(Untitled)

[lexiepedia]

She’s probably being ridiculous. Somewhere, deep down, Lexie is entirely aware of this, though not enough to question doing so in the first place. The thing about sex with Alex is that it’s exactly that: sex. No feelings, no strings attached, just a way of having fun. After all she’s been through lately, she deserves this, a chance to feel good

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[howmanylives]

Jamie had been looking over his shoulder when he entered his room in the hut he shared with Layla, distracted by the dog as his fingers curled in the hem of his shirt, tugging it upwards. At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, however, he abandoned that plan, holding up his hands in an instinctively defensive position, though his reaction quickly struck him as ridiculous.

I'm observant. Comes with the whole detective thing, I guess. Picking up clues, making inferences. That's the game. Sometimes, though, no detecting is necessary. Sometimes a clue is staring at you right in the face, sitting naked in your bed with a sheet clutched to her chest like something straight outta Chandler. The question, then, becomes not how to find a clue so much as how to act on it, and while making split second decisions has never been a forté of mine, keeping my own clothes on seems imperative.

"Unless you happen to be Carmen Sternwood, we're gonna have a serious problem, here, lady."

[lexiepedia]

Given her current state, the fact that she was wearing nothing and no longer where she was supposed to be, Lexie was too busy freaking out to notice much of anything when someone else walked into the room. What he said, not making any more sense to her than the rest of this situation, went right over her head; the tattoo on his face hardly caught her attention at all. The only thing she saw, in that instant, was that he looked remarkably familiar, and was just about the last person she would have wanted to see. This had been bad already, but now, was definitely worse.

No more than a split second passing before she spoke, she held the sheet more tightly to her chest, expression nothing short of horror-struck. "Oh my God, Mark?!"

[howmanylives]

At the commotion, Richards scampered into the room, bounding up onto the bed that, up until now, had only ever seen his master and Layla in it -- Layla, the girlfriend Jamie'd made a pretty big deal about never cheating on in light of mistakes he'd made in the past, not to mention Theresa's current arrangement. Layla, who was still out of the house. Layla, who was probably going to kill him if she ever found out about this.

"Do I look like a-- No. Not Mark," he said, though the name definitely rung a bell. Maybe she knew Meredith -- after all, what were the odds he'd have two different dupes named Mark from alternate universes?

Pretty good, actually.

"My name's Jamie Madrox. Who the hell are you?"

[lexiepedia]

"Woah, woah, easy," Lexie said to the dog, sheet drawn around herself protectively. She looked ridiculous enough as it was; the last thing she needed was a dog-induced wardrobe malfunction in front of the man who may or may not have been her ex-boyfriend. There were differences, sure, she could see that a little better now, but hadn't she gone and dyed her hair blonde? Sure, the tattoo was a little excessive, but she couldn't discount the possibility. Not long before, he'd been ignoring her outright. Based on that, this would have been a step up, as far as maturity went.

Expression bordering on petulant, she studied him carefully, as if by doing so, she would be able to tell whether or not he was lying. It didn't yet do her much good. "Yeah, actually, you do look like," she replied with a scoff, though decided in that moment to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least a little. "I'm Lexie. And I swear to God, if this is supposed to be some kind of a joke, I'll..."

[butterflyfactor]

"Did Richards pick a fight with a turtle again?" Layla asked, or mostly asked, as she slowed to a stop in the doorway of Jamie's room. She looked from the naked girl and dog over to Jamie, then leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. Her lips pursed just slightly to one side.

"I kind of can't wait to find out how much this isn't what it looks like."

[howmanylives]

Of course she chooses this second to walk in. Of course. Because life just has this fantastic way of biting me in the ass, occasionally, and it hasn't been nearly cruel enough in the past little while.

"Well, if I slept with her, I really don't remember," he said, looking between the two women with an aggrieved expression. Richards, more interested by Layla than the stranger -- Smart dog. -- jumped from the bed to sniff around her feet, letting out a sharp, excited bark that pierced Jamie's ears. "No offense, I'm sure you're memorable, just... not for me, because I did not sleep with her." The last part was directed solely towards Layla, his eyebrows lifting as though that would truly be an effective means to sell his honesty. "She was just here when I got in, I swear to God."

[lexiepedia]

"It's true, I was," Lexie added quickly, her eyes growing wider when another person walked into the room. Everything was happening far too fast, enough to leave her head spinning, and she spoke before even considering why she was so quick to jump to his defense. If this had been Mark, then what he'd just said coupled with the woman she didn't recognize, would have been the biggest insult possible. He wasn't, though, that much was becoming increasingly clear, and she wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

What she did know was that an already awkward situation had just become considerably more so, and all there really was for her to do was try to fix it. "And I wasn't even here before that, I was - I don't even know where here is, so - like you said, not what it looks like. At all. Not even close."

[butterflyfactor]

Layla's eyebrows raised, and she knelt to cup a hand over Richards' muzzle and scratch the fur above his tail.

"It looks like you're a newbie, so that part at least is right on the money. Need clothes?"

[howmanylives]

"Yes, she does," said Jamie without hesitation, nodding sharply. "It is very important that we are all clothed for the ensuing conversation, because the last thing anyone needs right now is a repeat of Janet Jackson." To Lexie, he added, "Look, this'll make... Well, it won't make sense, per se, but there's an explanation to be had, just... when you're not naked, and in my bed, okay?"

[lexiepedia]

"Yes. Please," Lexie replied on an exhale, with a look both pleading and grateful to the woman whose boyfriend she'd have guessed the man who looked like Mark was. She still couldn't wrap her head around that, any more than she could the fact that this wasn't Meredith's house, and as a result, kept her gaze carefully averted away from him, cheeks hot with something like embarrassment. "Clothes would... really be wonderful right about now."

[butterflyfactor]

"On it," Layla said, then paused on her way out and glanced at Jamie.

"Maybe you want to join me in not hanging around in the room with the traumatized naked girl?"

[howmanylives]

"...right," Jamie agreed with a sharp, fervent nod of his head, then followed Layla out of his room, Richards in tow. Without looking over his shoulder, he called back to Lexie, "She'll just be a second."

[lexiepedia]

"I'll be right here," Lexie called, aware of how unhelpful it was. It wasn't like she was about to go anywhere clad in only a sheet, and she really had no desire to make this situation any more awkward than it was already. The fact that this Jamie guy looked so much like Mark in itself was bad enough. Sheet still held carefully over herself, she bit her lower lip, watching the door expectantly as she waited.

[butterflyfactor]

Layla went into her room and pulled a pair of cargo pants and a grey t-shirt out of the folded pile that lined one wall, then straightened and looked at Jamie, unreadable and, it seemed, unfazed. So, the usual.

"Did she think she knows you?"

[howmanylives]

"No, she thinks she knows a Mark," said Jamie in a hushed voice, irritation slipping into his tone as he shook his head. "Whom I've actually met through one of this place's more memorable mindtricks, presuming this is the same Mark, and not just a happy coincidence. Think me, but a bit taller, a bit older, and a bit more of a cad. He's a plastic surgeon, originally from New York -- lower voice, pinpointable accent. Not a true dupe, but people... They see this mug, and they just think we're all the same."

[butterflyfactor]

"Not all people," Layla said, reaching up a hand to lightly pat his cheek before she continued past him and back to the other room.

"So, you're on an island," she started, setting the clothes on the edge of the bed, "that can be most readily likened to the Bermuda triangle. A lot of people here look like other people."