xp_logs | The day of the incident in the mall. Ev gets worried... (Reply)

Ev was worried, or at least he was more worried than usual. He hadn't had time to visit Doug yet and he really wasn't sure he wanted to; he didn't know the other boy very well, after all. Of course he didn't know Angelo all that well either. But a black eye was easier to understand than an unconscious classmate, and he felt he had to start small. Which was why he was in front of Angelo's door, about to investigate. He took a deep breath and knocked.

Angelo looked up from where he was sitting on the bed, surprised. He hadn't expected anyone to visit, and Alex and Shiro weren't there. "Come in", he called.

"Hi," Ev said as he walked in. "I came to visit. Er. If you don't mind."

"Hey!" Angelo said, still a little surprised by the identity of his visitor. "No. Sure. Grab a chair."

"Thanks." Ev sat and fell silent for a moment, attempting to bully his thoughts into order. He decided to just be blunt. "So some of the other kids were saying you and Doug were in a fight."

Angelo sighed, shifting on the bed to stretch his legs. "Depends how you mean. I didn't get in a fight *with* Doug, if that's what you're getting at..."

Ev shook his head. "No, I mean I heard you got into a fight with other people. And since Doug's kind of in medlab, I thought I'd ask you about it. Just to make sure you're okay," he added earnestly.

Angelo sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Few bruises, but I've had a lot worse. It was just some dumb kids who didn't like mutants but didn't have the first clue how to fight."

"Is that what happened?" Ev grimaced. "You and Doug should be more careful. They may not've known how to fight, but you two still wound up getting hurt."

"If I could have stopped it, I would have. That's what I was trying to do, but there were too many of them..."

Ev nodded and worried at a hole in his jeans. "Why do people do that? I mean, I figure it's just best to ignore them and hope they go away. That way you don't get beat up."

Angelo looked at him steadily. "Who do you mean by that? If you mean them, because they wanted a fight and they didn't care how fair it was. If you mean me, I was trying to get them away from Doug, and he was trying to keep them away from Artie. They went after him, first."

"I don't know what I mean," Ev muttered, and he probably didn't. He looked away and hastily added, "They shouldn't have gone after you and Doug, and especially not Artie. That's just..." He trailed off. 'Not cool' didn't seem to cover it at all.

"It happens", Angelo said seriously. "It's only because of Doug that Artie's not hurt now."

"I guess. I just don't like fighting, no matter who's doing it. People shouldn't be putting each other in medlabs." Ev sighed and rested his chin on his hands. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt any worse. It's bad enough that Doug did."

"I know", Angelo answered. "I wish I could have got there sooner, or done something more to help..."

"You did better than I would've. I would've just glared or something, and I'm not sure that would've done much good. I'm really bad at fighting," he added with a small smile.

Angelo hesitated, unsure how Ev would react to his next question, then decided to ask it anyway. "I've been thinking about offering to teach one-on-one self-defense. Would you be interested at all? Not combat, more how to get out of a fight as quickly as you can."

Ev was quiet for a moment, but then he sighed and nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Maybe it'll make me feel less useless."

Angelo smiled. "OK. I'll have to clear it with the faculty, but if it's going ahead I'll post to the journals."

"I'll sign up there too, so it's all official and stuff. But you've got a student." Ev attempted a grin. "You're sure you're okay? Because I'm really good at worrying. I can do that really well."

Angelo grinned reassuringly. "I'll be a bit sore for a few days, but I'll be fine. But if worrying makes you feel better, I'm not one to stop you."

"I'm not one to stop me either. I can really get on a roll." Ev stood up and shrugged uncomfortably, well aware that he sounded like a bit of an idiot. "I'm good at watching TV too, if you want to do that sometime."

"Sure!" Angelo answered easily. "I'm usually in the rec room when I'm not in here or in classes."

"Okay. I'll be there later doing some homework if you just want to chat. You know, when I'm not being worried."