Angelo and Jennie at Silver

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Before the logs with Sarah, while Angelo is still being responsible, he checks that Jennie's having fun. The conversation turns surprisingly deep before he sends her back off to dance with her friends.


Angelo was technically there as a chaperone, despite still being several months short of legal age himself. Still, he thought he ought to do some of his job, even if it was more making sure the kids were having a good time than being too strict about keeping them away from alcohol. So, he wandered over to Jennie when he saw her taking a dance break, smiling.

"Hey."

The last time Jennie had darkened a club door had been way back in September in Europe. To say there was some anxiety was an understatement. However, it was New Year's and for a good cause so Jennie figured why the hell not. She was even starting to relax and enjoy herself a bit. She looked up to see Angelo approaching her right as she was taking a drink of water. She nodded to him and swallowed, dabbing at her mouth with her wrist so not to smear her lipstick.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothin' much", he said cheerfully. "Just wanted to make sure everythin' was goin' okay."

"Yeah, everything's fine." She answered wryly. "Look, it's only water, see?" she held up her water bottle. She had been able to get someone to buy her a shot earlier, but that was at least an hour ago and she'd even danced with the guy to thank him. But with how she used to be, she was practically a nun tonight.

Angelo grinned. "I'll take your word for it. Havin' fun anyway?"

"I guess," Jennie said, shrugging.

That got her a sideways look. "Only guess?"

That got another awkward shrug. Jennie put off answering but taking another swig out of her water bottle. "S'been a while," she finally said. "You know?"

He hadn't been there in Monaco, but he'd read the files on it since. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I do. Still... might be all the more reason to make this a good one."

Jennie tried not to squirm. He was a trainee, wasn't he? So he would know all about it. Fantastic. "I'm trying," she said. "Been dancing, and mingling. And it's a good showing, right? For Forge's thing?" Hey wow, look at that. A subject change.

Angelo glanced around the room, letting her change the subject, and nodded. "Yeah, looks like a really good turnout. 's pretty cool - HeliX is worth the effort."

"Yeah, he has not shut up about it. Pushing his great mutant agenda and all. I can get behind it, totally, but I'm not much of a crusader, 'yknow?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "But then again, I'm always getting passive aggressive remarks from some people about how I can 'pass' and therefore shouldn't have to care."

His glance was sharper this time, more annoyed than worried - but not at her. "From who? Not anyone at the school?"

"Well, yeah." Jennie said. "I'm not going to name names, but, I've gotten it." She smoothed down her dress with one hand. "I mean, look at me. I look human, and if you didn't know any better you'd think I was one. But then stuff would randomly start breaking or I'd slip and you'd see the glowyness and then you'd know. I think, sometimes those of us who can pass have it a little worse when people find out."

"With some people, yeah, I can see that", he said quietly. "'specially if they think you were tryin' to hide it."

"And then there are the yahoos who think I'm not 'mutant' enough because I can pass. Like, I don't officially belong because I look human. What I look like doesn't matter, I still am what I am, and it doesn't matter to some racist moron when thy're vandalising my stuff or jumping me." Jennie took a deep breath to collect herself. "Sorry, old issue."

"It's all bullshit", Angelo told her firmly. "But you already know that, right? It's just another kind of racism, if you look at it one way."

"It is, it totally is another type of racism." Jennie agreed. "I mean, it's one thing I hope Forge addresses with the Helix stuff. That nobody is 'not mutant enough' or that someone doesn't belong because they can pass. All in this together, you know?" The girl snorted and took another drink of water. "Maybe I am a little bit of an activist after all."

He shrugged. "If that's the part you want to try an' deal with ahead of the others, I say go for it. It's not like it's any less important than workin' on mutant-human acceptance."

"Yeah, mutant-mutant acceptance, go fig." Jennie shook her head. "Sorry to run off like that. Just a pet peeve." She smiled wryly. "I still don't know about being a crusader for good. It's...I think it would be hard for me, because I would want immediate results. Like the," she shrugged and gestured, "Team thing? I don't know if I could ever do that." Plus the whole 'only recently recovered from going evil thing.'

"I never thought I would either, up to a few months ago", he confided. "Sometimes things change. But nobody's gonna force you into it - there's plenty other ways to make a difference. If that's what you want, even if immediate results might not be happenin'."

"Like, what made you change your mind? About the team? If you don't mind me asking?" Jennie pitched her now-empty water bottle into a trash can that was already starting to fill with plastic cups and beer bottles.

"...the short answer's Nathan, if only 'cause I was talkin' to him at the time. The more complicated answer's still kind of short, 'cause it comes out to 'I don't know'. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do an' the right time to do it." He grinned ruefully. "Sorry, I know that's probably not helpful."

"No, no it does." Jennie said. "I mean, I keep asking people because the more I think about it, the more I think I wouldn't be able to. I'm not much of the hero type. I mean, some people seem to do it because it's their duty, some because of lack of anything better to do, and I think 'I don't know' is a good answer. Better than 'duty' anyway."

Angelo chuckled. "Well, that's good then, I guess. It's not out of duty, I'll tell you that. It's more 'cause... I can, I don't actively not want to, so... why not?"

"Yeah, why not?" Jennie shrugged. The DJ changed the mix, and she was swaying a little to the beat of the music. "Again, it's just something I've been wondering about."

"'s fair enough. An' you know, if you ever do change your mind... it's never too late. But only if it's what you actually want."

"Yeah. Maybe I should try to get into college first, then think about saving the world," she grinned. "I have weird priorities."

"Well, just look at who you live with", was the deadpan response.

Jennie snorted. "No kidding. 'Come to the school, put on the suit and save the world, oh, and maybe think about college. Possibly.'" The girl tugged on her skirt. "I'm sorry, there was a while where I didn't think it would be possible for me to go to college, and now I'm having to decide between NYU and Columbia. Some things are on the back burner. Call me shallow."

"Been there", he said with a wry grin. "Word of advice - don't let the whole college thing drown you. I mean the thing where you've got actual choices now."

"I could say the same for you, oh self defense teacher," Jennie smiled. She looked back out onto the dancefloor, trying to see if she could spot her friends.

He followed her glance. "You want to get back out there?"

"Maaaaybe," she said, innocently. "Again, have't done this in a while. I think I remember now why I liked it so much. It's fun." She grinned.

"That's the spirit." He grinned back and shooed her towards the dancefloor. "Go on, find the others."

Jennie smiled and waved, before slipping back onto the dancefloor, gracefully dodging around other people to where her friends were.