Angelo and Paige; sandwich

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Angelo makes good on his word and comes to see Paige. It's a little bit stilted, but she gets a sandwich out of the deal, so, it's all good.

It wasn’t as if she could say no; no, please don’t come see your ex-girlfriend who you’re still really awkward friends with just because she has no idea what to say. Paige might be going to Muir, but she did have to see these people again, in a more continuous manner, eventually. It’d probably be better if they didn’t hate her.

It didn’t make climbing the stairs any easier, though, and it was really tempting to just turn around and hide in the basement behind the security of “off-limits”. She was saved the decision as she opened the door to find herself nose-to-nose with Angelo, looking just as shocked as she felt.

“Um. Hi,” Paige said finally, moving down a stair to gain a little space.

Things had been more than a little stilted between them since the breakup, it was true, but if he couldn't talk to her in circumstances like this... He stepped back hastily, though, giving her more space still. "I said I'd be down", he offered awkwardly, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah. Just.” Paige pushed her hair back, leaning against the opposite wall. Her t-shirt rode up in the back as she slumped, the handrail cold against her skin. “Lockdown and all. Didn’t want you to get in trouble.”

"Oh... yeah, I knew about that, Forge said. I just... you didn't look like you were expectin' to find me here yet. But, uh... how's he doin'? An' you?"

Paige tried to smile, lifting her shoulders at the same time. “He’s... well, he can’t keep a solid shape. He’s a little cranky, but at least he’s moved on from ‘we’re never going to fix this’ to a mere sour disposition,” she replied. “I need the nap I never managed to get, maybe a sandwich, but I’m better than I thought I’d be. We’ve done this once before, we can do it again.”

Angelo nodded quickly, seizing on the reassurance she'd just provided for herself. "An' you know how it worked last time, so that should help, right?"

“Right. We have half the equation, now we just have to figure out how to get Kevin’s mutant affect to, well, stop trying to kill him.” Paige smiled for real this time, though tired and dry. “At least he’s not dead, I suppose. Well. Dead in a cease to exist way, I suppose he is sort of already dead. Huh.”

His own smile matched it, with a rueful edge. "Not dead", he said quietly. "Just... not strictly alive. You’ll get there.”

“Right,” she repeated, letting the wave of silence wash over the two of them, eyes closed and then open again when she found the lack of words not terribly cold or pained. It was a nice surprise. “Thanks for checking on me.”

"Least I could do", he said with a faint smile. "When d'you think you'll be headin' to Scotland?" He knew giving a precise time might be impossible, in the situation.

“Soon as possible, without a high risk of Jono blowing up the plane,” Paige answered with a sigh. “Muir is the better facility for dealing with something like this, but we can’t risk the long plane ride right now. Or blowing up wherever Kurt or Clarice go when they teleport, as happy as I’m sure Satan would be, really.”

"I've been readin' the old team files", he said carefully, knowing she knew far more of the details than he did. "Doesn't Moira have some kind of containment unit, sort of a portable Box? 's mentioned from the time they went to help... uh, Amber, her name was."

Paige nodded, absently running her palm up and down the stair rail. “Amber Hunt. Forge is working on one for us. We may have to resort to it soon, it’s just not really an optimum... Amber’s explosions, the large ones, were caused by long time or high amounts of energy absorption. It was also linked to her mental state. The box could handle some of her lower explosions, if she managed to stay fairly calm, but Jono. Jono doesn’t really do little explosions, so much, unless he’s weak and then you take into account the fact that he’s a psi-“ She cut herself off, shaking her head. “It’s a risk, we, he, just have to decide if it’s too big.”

Angelo nodded, accepting it. "Well. I know you'll get it figured out soon", he said reassuringly.

Pushing herself up off the wall, Paige took the last step, closing the stairway door behind her. “Come on,” she said. She paused in the middle of the hallway to look over her shoulder at him. “You can make me a sandwich.”

He straightened up automatically, already taking a step to follow her. "That much, I can do. With your choice of fillin', even."

“Ooh... very fancy,” she replied in an appropriately awed tone once he’d caught up with her. “I have no idea how I would have managed peanut butter and jam without you.”

"Well, you need somebody to remind you to eat at times like this", he said lightly, reaching for the door. "I know you. An' I do it too, just ask Sooraya."

“I make the point that I’m the one who mentioned food, thank you,” Paige pointed out, making her way through the opened door. “Also that I already knew that, dummy.”

"You were this time", he said loftily, "but how long would you've left it if nobody'd come down here to roust you out?" He chose to not follow up the latter comment.

Paige glared at him steadily for a long moment, opening her mouth several times, only to find it empty of a reply and closing it again. Finally coming to the conclusion that she was beaten, she took one last deep breath and raised a finger in point.

Before sprinting down the hallway towards the kitchen.