2007-10-17: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Lachlan_icon.gif

Summary:

Lachlan tries to drag Cass to bed (for sleeping!) and they argue about the merits of brains.

October 17th, 2007:

Stupid is as Stupid Does


Bat Country Labs

While some have accused Cass of having acquired workplace vampirism, she's taking that in stride. Or at least trying to. Even though she has a trip she has to pack for, and make time for, she's still has to finish blood tests before she can even think about getting anything else together. That's been sort of set behind by the recent catastrophe that has met her lab. A lot of things are broken or dented, but she can do it all the longer, old fashioned microscopic way. And that's where she is right now - at the microscope. Without any clue of the time of day. Or even what day it is.

The time of day is Late, and the day itself is CASS HAS BEEN NOT HOME FOR TOO LONG. So that is why Lachlan is here. Normally, he tries to let Cass be when she's at the lab because it means she is Working Hard at Science, which are two things he knows better than to mess with. But there comes a point when there is Too Much Working Hard and Too Much Science, and that point was several days ago. It's not even the sex he misses (… okay, well, he misses that too), it's just Cass. So into the labs ventureth the Scotsman, dressed in new snazzy clothes (these ones being black jeans and a dark-green turtleneck sweater under his typical worn leather jacket). He doesn't even say anything as he enters, doesn't make any attempts to hide his presence — he simply walks over to where Cass sits and moves to pull her chair back and, if he succeeds, start to pick her up. Home time!

There are a lot of things that Cass misses, but all those things she's put on hold until she can find the some sort of breakthrough on this whole virus thing. Scribbling something down on a chart, the whole page gets ruined when the pen she's using drags down the whole paper as the chair she's sitting on is pulled back and someone tries to pick her up. There's a squeal and then the store owner starts fighting against whoever is attempting to abscond with her. Of course, that's when she sees that it's Lachlan. "Lachlan! Wh—put me down."

But Lachlan does not put her down. If anything, he just hefts Cass into a more manageable position and turns toward the door. Granted, it's a bit rough, what with her struggling and all. "Only place I'm puttin' ye down is in bed at home," he grunts as he fumbles for the door handle with one hand. "Ye've no' been home ta sleep fer weeks." Weeks? A week? Who knows? Who cares? It's been too long. He misses Casspillow.

However, Lachlan isn't going to get away easily. She is busy and has things to do. "Lachlan! Put me down. I have work to do and I need to get it done soon. And if you haven't noticed, my lab is a little worse for wear. People are waiting for these results." Struggling against him, she's not as strong as he is so it's mostly just to show how not okay she is with this. "It's important!"

It's really hard to open a door when one is holding a struggling Cass in one's arms, but after several attempts, Lachlan manages. Then he proceeds to attempt to get through the door, still carrying the struggling Cass. "Yeah, well, s'no' more important'n yer sleep an' yer sanity," he argues. "S'no' gonna kill ye 'r anyone else if ye stop ta put yer head down an' get some bloody sleep fer a bit. S'gonna kill ye if ye dunna, though." It's hard to get through the door with Cass kicking and flailing, so he turns sideways so as not to bash any bit of her against the jamb.

It may be, but Cass also has a bit of a deadline. "Yes. it is important. I need to get this done soon, Lachlan. I need to go to Texas in a little while for a few days." This is not exactly how she was planning on telling Lachlan, but, well, there it is. "And so I need to have these all tested before I leave. I can't go out of town without letting everyone know if they're clear or sick. I'll sleep when this is all over." Who knows when that will be. But, there it is.

"Ye'll bloody sleep now," insists Lachlan quite forcefully as he starts heading down the hall. "Dunna bloody care if we're runnin' 'round the soddin' Arctic s'long as ye get some bloody sleep first." 'We'? Right. Once again, Lachlan's loyalties are quite clear: Cass, Cass, Cass. Also Cass. Everything else is secondary, kthx.

We? Oh dear. He's not getting the big picture here. "Maybe later. But I need to finish what I was doing now." Cass'll play conciliatory for a little while, but ultimately, it's just to buy herself more time. "And there is no we. You're not going anywhere. You need to stay here and watch everyone for me." Better give him a task to do otherwise he'll feel like he's being useless. Much like Peter has been feeling lately.

HA. There is no 'later', only 'now'. "Y'need ta sleep. An' like hell I'm stayin' here. Ye've got other people ta watch ever'one fer ye." Someone's been feeling marginalized lately. This is just Lachlan's way of dealing with it. Because God forbid he talk about it.

"I'll sleep when I can," Cass fights back, even if it's not the most dignified battle atop Lachlan's shoulder. "No I don't, Lachlan. Everyone I trust to watch over them are already sick have their family to look after first." Maybe Cass would pick up on why the Scot is actually annoyed on a different day. But today it's only viruses and the need to cure them. "You can't come with me to Texas, Lachlan."

"Ye can bloody well sleep now." She can because Lachlan is taking her home and putting her in bed and making her sleep. He starts heading for the door leading outside, and to hell with what everyone out on the street will think. "An' why the hell no'? B'cause I'm too stupid ta know wha's goin' on?" Whoop, there it is.

GAH. Why didn't Sharon teach Cass how to get out of the grasp of a tall Scotsman who is forcibly trying to drag her to sleep? Unfair! How does she get out of this predicament without falling flat on the cement? "What?" The last question comes out as a high-pitched exclamation. "You've got to be kidding me, Lachlan. No. That is not the reason you can't go." Frustrated, she struggles again. "Just. Put me down so we can talk about this."

But once again, Lachlan does not put Cass down. He just keeps going. "Sure, righ'. 'Course s'no'," he snorts skeptically. And then he just goes silent, because talking is stupid. Hell, he'll carry her all the way to Brooklyn and the apartment this way, he doesn't care. He's strong enough.
"Don't make me kick you, Lachlan. I can't aim very well from up here and we all know how that went last time." And the woman sounds very serious. "We are talking about this and we're not going to do it while you're trying to drag me back to your lair like a caveman." Or something to that effect.

Yes, Lachlan very well knows what sort of a kick Cass has. It's not one he'd like to relive. So when that threat crops up, he simply wraps his free arm tightly around her calves, attempting to pin her legs to him. HA. HA. "Why no'? Tha's wha' I bloody well am, innit? Just a stupid bloody caveman tha' doesna know any better." Bitter caveman is bitter.

What the—NO! Cass moves to kick her legs and roll off Lachlan's shoulder. If he's not going to let her go, she will take him down with her. "What are you talking about, Lachlan? You're not a dumb caveman. Will you just let me down! Please!" This is frustrating to not be able to talk to him and just make him stop moving. "This is humiliating and inappropriate! I can walk, you know!"

Lachlan's strong, but he's not strong enough to hold onto a rolling Cass. It upsets the weight balance and almost causes him to topple over to the side, which would end in bruises and possibly a broken arm or two. Fortunately, he manages to remain upright and decides that such was too close a call, therefore Cass is finally lowered to the ground. Then, he scowls at her. "Righ'. Y'know, I know I'm no' a bloody doctor 'r an astronaut 'r a psychic-ist— " he probably means 'physicist' "— an' I know I dunna know shit 'bout science an' wha'ever, but I can still bloody do stuff. 'M no' stupid." Yes, this is a wonderful discussion to have on the street.

Finally having feet on the ground again, Cass is a little taken aback by this whole tirade and anger. She knew she would take a few hits in the relationship department by locking herself in a basement to try and fix this, but she had no idea it would be like this. "I never said you couldn't do anything. Nor did I ever call you stupid." Frowning, she reaches out to grab Lachlan's hand - though she's wary of being dragged back up to the shoulder. "I don't care if you know anything about science or medicine."

But Lachlan yanks his hand out of reach. HE WILL NOT BE CONSOLED. "Nah, sure. Ye dunna have ta say it, I bloody know." And here he slips into a falsetto: "'Oy, tha' Lachlan, he's a daft sack o' meat, canna do nothin' ta help. Better he just stays out o' the way an' let the smart people werk.'" It's not even Cass' fault, really. Lachlan is just notoriously sensitive about his intelligence (or lack thereof).

There it is. That falsetto that Cass hates. Even if she's on a very short temper right now, she'll try to keep it as reined in as possible. As this is something has obviously been eating away at Lachlan at all. "Lachlan. That's not even true." When he darts out of reach, the woman doesn't attempt to follow. Instead, she just rubs at her forehead a little. "I don't think that at all. Why in the world do you think I'd think that little of you?"

"Well, I dunno, mebbe s'the way ye've been actin'. Holin' yerself up in tha' lab— " where he can do nothing, because he doesn't know the first thing about labwork "— an' runnin' off ta bloody Texas 'r wherever-the-hell. But nah, Lachlan canna go 'r help b'cause he wouldna un'erstand all the big bloody werds. Gotta stay home an' babysit, tha's all he's good fer." This is why one should never assume anything.

However, Lachlan has assumed something. A very big couple of somethings. "Of all the…" Cass runs a frustrated hand through her hair. "I've holed myself up in the lab because our friends are sick with something that could kill them," she hisses at the taller Scot because she doesn't want to raise her voice high enough to let anyone overhear them. "I am going to Texas because the woman who may have started this whole thing was taken there and Mohinder's not sure he can get himself in let alone me plus my fiancee. I'm sorry you feel like you've been shoved to the side, but this doesn't actually have anything to do about how smart or stupid you are or what good you are to me." She pauses, mostly just for breath so she can build up steam. "You don't think I feel useless sometimes? I can't find anything out about this virus. I never finished med school and the first day I bring in someone else I get a lecture about how I shouldn't even have a license because of the way I run things." Shaking her head, she crosses her arms. "I don't even know what I'm doing in that whole damn place. I feel like they're all relying on me to find something…to do something and I don't know what to tell them. I don't know how I'm supposed to do this."

Wait, who? Isn't Mohinder that one guy he doesn't like or trust? From the Company? Lachlan is utterly floored. Whether it's by that tidbit of information or the fact that Cass apparently doesn't know Everything In The World is hard to tell. Cass is Smart. She knows everything. This is why he feels so insecure and marginalized. If she doesn't know everything, then … well. That kinda makes him look like an idiot. There goes all the wind from his Sails of Angst. The Scot opens his mouth, closes it, then stuffs his hands deep into his jacket pockets and scowls at the sidewalk.

The very same Mohinder! However, Cass would be the first to dispute the fact that she knows everything in the world. She really doesn't and doesn't try to pretend like she does. When Lachlan just looks down at the sidewalk, she doesn't have anything else to add to it either. Instead, she just looks at that same spot on the ground and keeps her peace to see if that has somehow given Lachlan some closure about the situation. "I don't think you're stupid." It's not just her saying that to make him feel better. She doesn't think that at all.

Yeah, well, now Lachlan thinks he's stupid. Funny how that works. He grunts something incomprehensible and shrugs his shoulders, but doesn't remove his gaze from the sidewalk for a while. When he does, he glances up and away at something farrrr far in the distance, rubs his face with one hand, and clears his throat roughly. "'Re ye comin' home 'r wha'?" he utters. Yes, when all else fails, change the subject.

Funny how that works, indeed. There's a bit of a noncommittal noise that Cass makes at the back of her throat at the question. "I have to finish at least that test," she says. But, seeing how Lachlan is taking the whole 'holed up in Bat Country' thing, she decides to add, "Why don't you keep me company while I finish it and then we'll both go home?" A compromise.

That gets a nod from Lachlan, who still keeps his eyes on everything except Cass. "Sure, yeah. S'fine," he mumbles. He'll just, uhm. Sit. Over there. And feel like a jerk for a little bit.

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