Marie and Angelo, Monday morning

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Marie goes to find Angelo Monday morning, just to chat. They talk about the pleasant uneventfulness of the prom, Elpis and college.

Marie had been staring at the clock, waiting for it to be what other people considered to be a decent hour. She had tried meditating to pass the time, but had been unable to concentrate. As the numbers finally rolled to 9:00, she slipped on her gloves and headed out. Arriving at Angelo’s door, she lightly rapped on it three times.

Angelo, up and mostly dressed, blinked at the door before padding over to open it. "Em! Hi!"

“G’morning,” she said with a warm smile. “Hope you were up…Ah know Ah have a bad habit of forgetting that other people don’t rise at the crack a’ dawn.”

"Yeah, I was up. An' I usually am up earlier than I used to be, for work an' with the dog an' all... come in." He stood aside to let her.

She walked in, then leaned against a wall. “You looked good at the dance. So did Amanda…Ah’m glad you brought her.”

"Yeah?" He looked at her carefully. "I saw you two talkin', outside..."

“Oh, get that worried look of your face,” she said, playfully smacking his arm. “You saw both of us after too, no worse for the wear. Ah was glad to find out she’s doing so well for herself.” Marie perched on the edge of a chair and cocked her head quizzically at Angelo. “You two looked rather cozy…”

He shrugged, would-be casual. "I invited her. Dancin' seemed the thing to do, an' Doug an' Angie saw to it we didn't forget it."

“Dancin’ at a prom? Next you’ll be telling me people actually learn things at a school,” she kidded to keep things light. “It was really good to see everyone having a good time, y’ know? Ah kept waiting for somethin’ to happen…nice that the school managed to pull off a function without a demon attack or the like.”

"We've hit a record length of time without any school invasions at all", he told her, amused. "Lee's pretty damn good at what he does."

Holding a finger up to her lips, she winked at him. “Shh, ‘fore you jinx things.”

"Oh, right." He reached out to tap the nearest piece of wood in reach.

She smiled at his superstitious act. “So Ah haven’t seen much of you ‘round the mansion lately.”

"I don't come out an' about as much as I used to. Work, walk the dog, the odd cigarette... an' sleep. That's when I'm even here, an' not off with Nathan wherever."

“How is…” she paused for a moment, waiting for the name to pop into her mind, “Elpis shaping up?”

"It's early days, but it's goin' well. Nathan bought a church, in Nicaragua. Gonna turn it into a shelter an' trainin' centre for young mutants."

Marie’s eyes widened at the word ‘church,’ then resumed their normal size as Angelo finished his sentence. “You’re not going out there to run it or anything are ya?”

“No, no", he said hastily. "I'm stayin' right here in New York. But we've gotta go out there for a while to get it set up."

"Naturally. Glad y' aren't planning on leaving though, Ah need the few familiar faces around here to stay put...least 'till Ah finish getting settled in," she said with a grin. What she didn't say was that she could think of someone else who would also sorely miss him.

“Well", he said with a grin of reassurance. "The furthest I'll be goin' from the mansion except on the business trips is to the boathouse. Or the city, but that hardly counts."

“The boathouse is shaping up real nice. ‘s good for Moira, Nate and Rachel to have a real home. An’ as much as Ah adore the little red-haired angel, it’ll probably keep the mansion residents saner to have a little distance sometimes.”

Angelo nodded. "Probably better for our little telepath not to be up here with all the drama we get sometimes, too."

Marie wrinkled her nose “That’s for sure. We do have our fair share of teenage drama. And the powers thrown in always make it more…well, interesting isn’t quite the right word, but y’ know what Ah mean.”

"I do. When the girl screamin' at someone can blow out windows with her voice, or some of the other stuff people here can do..."

“Hmm…maybe Ah shouldn’t have been so quick to accept the RA position,” she said while raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, you'll be fine", he said with a grin. "It's quieted down a lot since Sarah, Amanda an' my student days. In the year or so that's actually been."

Marie laughed. “An’ you think Ah was an angel in my student days?”

"I knew you at the end of your student days", he pointed out. "Or was it just after... anyway, I'm livin' with Bobby."

Marie’s face turned bright red. “Remind me to not let any of the new students talk to you then. Or him.” Pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she continued “How is Bobby? Ah haven’t seen him much since Ah got back.” Except when he saw me smack Doug and asked what the hell Ah was doing back.

"He's doin' pretty well. Workin' for Elpis too, an' he's on the team." He looked up at her, gauging her reaction when he added, "An' seein' Terry."

Surprisingly, the momentary twinge that Marie felt at the news was replaced with something slightly warmer. “That’s good to hear. Maybe Ah should go away more often…seems like most folk have straightened themselves out while Ah was gone,” she said with a smile.

"You were gone a while", he pointed out. ""An' you know you were missed."

She patted his shoulder. "Ah know, Ah'm just teasing." Well, mostly.

"Good", he said firmly, grinning at her.

She couldn’t help but grin in response. “After all, someone had to come and dominate in the Danger Room, ‘sides Scott and Logan.”

"Is that what you've been doin'? I'm not allowed down there still, not bein' on the teams."

"Well, dominate may not be quite the right word. Still making sure Ah got a grasp on these new powers." She looked at him curiously, "You got any interest in the team?" She didn't recall that he had ever expressed interest in joining, but then again that was a few years ago when he was just a student.

"Me? I thought about it for about two days, back around the time I graduated. But I'm about done with fightin' that way. Elpis is more my speed, these days."

“Yeah, its definitely not right for everyone. Ah’m not even sure if it’ll always be right for me, the way it is for Scott and ‘Ro.” She hadn’t even realized that until the words came out.

"I think 'always' is a long time", he said after a moment or two's consideration. "Even Scott an' Ororo might end up givin' it up sooner or later. An' if it's not what you want to do anymore..."

“For now, it’s right. Gives me a place to give back and help others. An’ with as much help as Ah got…” Shrugging, she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Ah just like thinking that one day Ah’ll have something else.”

"It's a nice thought", he agreed. "An' if you ever want to stop... there'd probably be a job for you at Elpis." He felt reasonably confident offering that, though it probably wouldn't be his final decision.

“Always good to know a girl has options,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Can't keep fightin' that way forever", he said with a shrug and the slightest darkening of his expression, as he wondered just how long Nathan would keep it up.

Marie noticed the change in Angelo’s expression, but it was fleeting and she decided not to pursue it. She hoped that sharing some of her own good, albeit off topic, news would take Angelo’s mind off his thoughts. “So Ah’m going to Pace in the Fall.”

He looked at her curiously, the brief change in mood forgotten. "Yeah? Takin' what?"

She couldn’t look Angelo in the eyes while she answered. “Ah’m doing a joint program with psychology. So in about three years, Ah’ll get my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Ah got to place out of most of the preliminary classes.” She was still very hesitant when telling people about her plans, worried how they would react. She kept waiting for someone to tell her it was a bad idea.

Angelo blinked at her obvious hesitance, moving round into her field of vision. "Sounds like a really good course. I'm still thinkin' about goin' back to school sometime."

“You should, Ah need someone to stress for finals with.” Looking him in the eyes, she took a deep breath. “In all honesty, Ah’m terrified.”

"About bein' a student again?" He moved forward, offering a hug. He'd never been afraid to touch her, and that hadn't changed. "It'll be fine."

She leaned into his arms, resting her face on his shoulder, letting the comfort of the hug relax her. It was always a relief when someone reached out for her without the usual moment of hesitation. Taking a step back, she grinned wryly up at him. "Pathetic when the idea of class with a bunch of 18-year-olds frightens me more than the idea of facing Magneto in battle, huh?"

"Not really. At least you know what you're dealin' with, with him."

“An’ the other way around. It’s gonna be interesting explaining my gloves to new people.” She closed her eyes, losing herself in thought for a moment.

"If you don't want to tell them the truth, you make somethin' up", he said practically. "You can think of somethin'."

Opening her eyes, Marie smiled at Angelo. With her friends to back her up, she knew she’d be just fine.