xp_logs | Angelo, Nathan and Saul, Tuesday afternoon

Angelo meets Saul, and they get on pretty well.

It was a familiar scene: Angelo, sitting on the swing seat on the back porch, with a cigarette in hand and Joyita asleep between his feet in the sun. He glanced round as he heard the door open, and grinned at Nathan. "Hey."

"Hey," Nathan said, stepping farther onto the porch to give Saul room to follow him outside. Joyita looked up, wagging her tail, and Nathan gave her a little wave. "Angelo? This is my father, Saul," he said, and then laughed as Joyita leapt to her feet and came running over to greet the new person. "And that's Joyita. They're a package deal these days."

Angelo nodded to Saul with an easy grin. "Good to meet you. Had the grand tour?"

"Part of it, so far," Saul said, crouching to greet Joyita properly. She wagged her tail enthusiastically, licking his hands. "It's been quite eye-opening," he said, smiling at the dog.

Angelo laughed. "That's one way to put it, yeah."

"Are you one of Nathan's students?" Saul asked, getting back to his feet.

It was starting to be a standard question, Nathan noted. "One of my most faithful," Nathan said, answering the question and hoping Angelo would forgive him. "Been in... hell, I'm forgetting just how many of my classes you've been in, Angelo. Most of them, in any case."

Angelo grinned up at him, gesturing casually with his cigarette hand. "What can I say? I like what you teach."

"I do keep hearing that from people," Saul said with a chuckle. "It's starting to dawn upon me that Nathan must be a rather inspiring teacher."

"He is", Angelo answered with a shrug. "Got me through finals, anyway. So, what'd you think of the place - or what you've seen of it?" He frowned very slightly for an instant, before leaning down to pet Joyita. Something was bugging him, something about Saul, but he didn't know what it was...

Nathan noticed the little frown and wondered, for a moment, if Angelo was half-remembering that shared dream. Damn, I wish... He cut the thought off, shaking his head a little. He'd been so concerned with Alison's and Jean's reactions that he'd almost forgotten to add Angelo to that list. Although he didn't quite seem to be recalling, at least...

"Fascinating," Saul was saying, promptly. "The people are quite remarkable, too, students and staff."

Angelo shook off the odd feeling that he'd seen Saul before, telling himself it must have been someone who just looked like him. Or maybe he'd passed Saul on the street in LA sometime, who knew? He glanced up with a grin. "Yeah, most people here are pretty special. You met Clarice yet? Beware the glitter."

"The little purple girl?" Saul chuckled. "Indeed I have. Although I didn't notice any glitter?"

"She's saving it for special occasions these days, I think," Nathan said, thinking about just how much more... well, grown-up Clarice had seemed since starting her job. He supposed that type of experience was maturing whether you wanted it to be or not.

Angelo laughed. "She is gettin' better about that, yeah. Doesn't even pout at me anymore when I take Joyita out without her rhinestone collar."

"I somehow can't see you in rhinestones," Saul said to the dog, who wagged her tail enthusiastically at him. "It seems so very undignified."

"Exactly!" Angelo proclaimed, gesturing with his cigarette for emphasis. "Finally, someone sees it my way."