xp_logs | Angelo and Lorna, Friday afternoon (Reply)

They run into each other while walking their dogs, and have a nice talk. About everything except Lorna and Alex.

The one trouble with having a retriever-sized and energetic dog was her insistence on going outside three or four times a day, even in a New York winter. Of course, she didn't seem to object to Angelo sitting down for a smoke when he let her off the leash in the woods, so he could live with it.

...sounded like she'd found another dog, this time. And there was only one other he knew about in the mansion. "...Lorna?"

Lilli gave an excited yip and pounced on Joyita's head as she was used to doing to the long-suffering Crush. A few yards away, Lorna was walking slowly up the path, watching her little terror with a bemused smile. She gave a wave to the other pet owner. "Hey, Ange. Sorry about that. I can't quite convince Lilli that the proper way to greet people is to sit and shake not pounce and bite."

Joyita seemed to be putting up with it, mostly, until she got tired of being chewed and pinned the smaller dog down with one paw. Angelo grinned, waving back. "Hey, Lorna. It's okay - I figure Joyita'd be tellin' us all about it if it actually hurt."

Lilli yelped and whined up at Joyita, wriggling fiercely to get out of the pin. Once free she streaked over to Lorna and bounced off her legs, whimpering. Lorna laughed and knelt in the snow to gather up the puppy, "See, I told you that not everyone was going to put up with you like Crush." She avoided the slobbery kiss that Lilli aimed at her face and dumped the puppy back on the ground. "Tell me that Joyita was this incorrigible when you got her? Lie if you have to."

"Oh, she really was. An' for quite a few months after that. Should've heard Jono bitchin' about her chewin' his bed, 'til I finally got her to stop."

Lorna laughed and stood again, brushing snow from her pants. "I have to say, it was a good way to meet the neighbours at least. Every couple of days someone new would show up with Lilli chewing on them and tell us that she'd stolen a sandwich or tackled their four-year old. She hasn't hurt anyone, thank god. She's just insane is all."

"Ah, she's only a baby." He reached over to pat the other end of the log he was sitting on. "Want to sit, let the girls play some?"

Lorna shrugged and went over to sit by Angelo, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets. "I know she is. I just hope this is something she'll grow out of. It's cute now but when she's grown up it will be a problem." She settled on the log and tilted her head, "So how have you been, Angelo? I haven't seen much of you in a long time."

"Yeah, Nate keeps me busy." He grinned. "An' then you were... away. I've been pretty good, though. 's good work I'm doin' now."

"I was evil and mind controlled," Lorna corrected. Her therapist believed in naming traumas in order to move past them. Even if she had been a bit taken aback by the exotic nature of Lorna's traumas. "So what is it that you do for Nate? Other than the eternal filing, of course."

"Pretty much whatever he needs me to. Go with him when he goes abroad, do research for him, carry his papers around... Bobby does more of the filin' side of things these days, really."

"I haven't seen Bobby, yet. How is he doing? He must be busy." Lilli, once again the victim of a Joyita pin, came running over for some more comfort but got distracted and attacked Angelo's shoelaces instead. Lorna signed, "Lil, sweetie, no."

"I can get new shoelaces", he said casually, but lifted his feet out of reach anyway, assuming Lorna was trying to train the puppy out of it. "He's pretty busy, yeah. With work an' with Terry."

"I haven't seen her either. She has class with Alison quite a bit but never actually appears. It's the weirdest thing." Lorna shook her head and rolled her eyes as, deprived of Angelo's shoes, Lilli remembered her mission of pathetic whimpering. "Other than work, how are you though? Anything fun or interesting going on in your life?"

"Her an' Bobby have Drama", Angelo advised her mock-seriously. "Every other week or so. An'... work's about it, really. But it gets me out of the mansion - out of the country - a lot. When I'm not stuck in the office, it's pretty interestin'."

Taking pity on her little fluffball, Lorna pulled Lilli into her lap and scratched her ears. "Why does it not shock me that those two have lots of drama?" She made a face at him, "You should do things that aren't work too, Ange. Focusing on one element of your life only works for so long."

"Well, I mean... I'm still livin' here, there's usually somethin' else to focus on. Even if it's just movies with whoever's around, or playin' with the little kids."

"Still, there...should be something else that's important. Can't just be the one thing or you'll wake up one day and find out that you're sick of it. And then you'll be totally lost." She was looking away into the woods, not really talking to him at all.

He was watching her in concern now, as the dogs tumbled around in play not far off. "I've got my mom, when I need to get away from here. Or I can go to New Orleans, if I need to get further out."

Lorna nodded and glanced over at him, trying to conceal the short shiver that went down her spine when he mentioned New Orleans. "That's good."

He'd got better at reading things like that, since he'd started working with Nathan. But he didn't mention it. "An' how've you been?"

Lorna shrugged, "All right. I've been worse. You saw Alex's post, I'm guessing?"

"Yep. An' you're back here an' he isn't. Says a bit on its own."

"I suppose it does," Lorna said quietly, sliding her hands back into her pockets. "How often do you talk to Amanda?" She didn't know if Amanda would mention Lorna's visit but it would be better to know now if it would be a problem.
"I call her every couple of weeks, usually. Or she calls me. More 'n that if there's somethin' special one of us wants to talk about."

"What rates something special? Lilli, no!" Lorna's attention snapped away as the puppy prepared to leap off a rock after Joyita. It was a jump that the older dog had made easily. Lorna wasn't about to risk Lilli to it. A quick hand motion pulled the puppy back from the edge by her collar.

"Depends. Usually it's somethin' to do with her school or my work - if I'm gonna be away, I let her know, or she lets me know how her exams are goin'. Sometimes she wants to pass a message onto someone here an' doesn't know their cell number."

"Oh. Sorry," Lorna jumped up and ran over to Lilli who was once again ready to try her daredevil leap. "No, Lilli. You'll break your neck." Lilli yapped at her and Lorna took that as agreement. Lorna kissed her head then set her down and jogged back to the log. "Puppies. Worse than babies. That's cool though, that you keep in touch. Does anyone else keep in contact with her, do you know?"

Angelo blinked. "Why sorry? An' I'm not sure of everybody that does. Pretty sure Angie's one of them, though. An' Doug."

"For running after Lilli, I meant." Lorna stayed on her feet this time, pacing just a bit. The chill was getting to her. "Do you know if it's supposed to snow again today?"

"Oh. Well, that's just what you've gotta do, when they're that little. An' I forgot to check - hope not."

"Yeah," Lorna turned to look at the sky, "me too. I don't think I'll ever really get used to this weather. Do you ever get the feeling that you're always a little bit out of place when you aren't in California?"

"...I used to. An' I don't think I'll ever really get used to how cold it gets here. But... apart from the sun an' the city, I've got nothin' to go back to California for."

Lorna nodded, "Yeah, I guess it's a little different for you. There was a while there that I thought I was going to finally adjust to life not in Cali but I think that I'm really just a Valley Girl at heart. I should probably get back in. Lilli isn't used to this weather any more than I am."

Angelo nodded, whistling to Joyita. "Think it's about time we headed in too. You gonna stay around here, then, or head back to Cali when you're sorted out?"

"Depends what I hear from Berkeley. I'll finish up my degree one way or another and find time for the X-men too." A quick tug on Lilli's collar brought the little puppy bounding back. That was one lesson that had actually stuck thankfully. "Mostly I'm just trying to see where things are right now. I kinda just…shook up my life a little, you know?"

"Yeah. Take some time to let stuff settle before you make any decisions, kind of thing?"

Lorna nodded, "Something like that."

"Seems sensible. An' it's not like there's any hurry for you to move on from here, before you're ready."

No hurry. No one to go home to and nothing waiting for her anywhere. Well, she'd wanted more freedom hadn't she? "Yeah. Nothing pressing anyway."

That had actually been meant to be reassuring. "Yeah. So... stay with us for a bit."

Lorna realized her voice had slid again to melancholy and forced herself to smile. "It's good to be back. Really it is. And this way I can make sure you all are eating properly. The new counselor seems to be starving to death under the current system."

"Nah, I think he's just naturally thin. But I won't say we didn't miss your cookin'."

"Thanks, Ange. It's good to be missed for something anyway." Lorna grinned. "Speaking of which, I need to tackle your roommate at some point. I have this awesome recipe that calls for some coffee ice cream."

"Well, we couldn't get your cookin' over the phone", he pointed out with a grin in return. "An' I'll help you hunt him down if I get first taste."

"Deal."