xp_logs | log: [Julio and Angel]

Julio finally takes Angel on a date. And everything is so very...normal.

After much debate, back-and-forthing, and nagging both Kyle and Marius for information, Julio had decided to do the standard "Dinner and a movie" for his and Angel's first official date. Dinner first, then movie, then probably more food after the movie because, hey, it was Angel. Dinner had been good, he'd gotten Jennie to drive them to the burger place he had gone to on Forge's birthday, and then they walked to the movie theater to see the movie. They were now walking arm in arm after the movie had gotten out, and looking for a place to eat.

"So," Julio said after a minute. "What'd you think?"

Angel grinned up at him, slightly flushed from just the whole… experience. "I thought it was fantastic," she responded. "Though the monkey totally stole the show from Ben Stiller. Poor, poor evil little monkey. What about you?"

When they'd gotten to the theater, it hadn't been a hard choice movie wise. She wasn't really one for romance stuff and she'd heard that Night at the Museum had been hysterical. Comedies were the win on first dates.

"I liked the giant dinosaur, but I am a boy. It is genetic that we like dinosaurs." He kicked aside an errant piece of slush on the sidewalk. Things were going pretty well, he had to admit, having never been on a real date in his entire life. "I think now we do coffee. Or dessert?" His two suitemates were not much help in the dating department, unfortunately. Kyle had only been with Jay, and Marius...well, his advice was: "Dunno, mate, are you plannin' on seein' her again?"

If possible, Angel brightened at the idea. "Me, pass up food?" she asked, squeezing his arm as she teased. This whole dating thing was a foreign concept, nothing that her list had been able to help her figure out. Thankfully, she managed to get most of her girl friends at the mansion to give her some advice. She'd just gotten giggles out of Yvette and Sooraya as she raced around the room trying to get ready.

"That place looks promising," Julio pointed to a smaller coffeehouse on the end of the block. It was still brightly lit and not too crowded. Of course, it wasn't very late anyway, what with curfew and everything.

"Oohh, I bet they have baked goods. And I promise not to get anything with caffeine in it. Unless it's in baked good form. When I went to Canada, Garrison took away all my Red Bull. I think he was afraid."

"With a good reason," Julio teased. "I think he wanted to not cause an international incident." They paused in front of the cafe and Julio held open the door for Angel. "Ladies first."

There was a faint blush to her cheeks that she couldn't blame on the cold. It was the first time she wasn't grateful for her powers. "I can behave," Angel protested and then paused, scratching her head. "Okay, when I'm not drinking Red Bull. But still. Oohh, chocolate..."

"I have complete faith in you," Julio said solemnly, following her in. The cafe was bright and cheerful, and it smelled of coffee and cinnamon. He followed Angel up to the counter, where a girl with blonde dreadlocks was tending register. "What do you want?" he said, turning to Angel. Guys always paid, especially on the first date. And it wasn't like he was necessarily hurting for money. His father sent him an allowance every month.

The pastry shelves were fully stocked and Angel had to stop herself from pressing her nose into the glass. If she was anyone else, she might be embarrassed about her appetite. But thankfully, she wasn't anyone else. "The double chocolate chip muffin," she responded, pointing at it. "Hello, soon to be in my stomach muffin."

The girl behind the register smiled at Angel and pulled the muffin out with a peice of wax paper and put it on a plate. She also got Angel's drink and Julio's coffee. He paid, and they both took seats by the window, Julio finally removing his jacket in the too-warm air of the cafe. He scratched his head nervously. Okay, now what?

After taking a bite of the muffin, Angel tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. This was getting awkward. She thought about it and realized that was stupid. He was still Julio, one of her best friends. Just...she had found out what an awesome kisser he was and they were on a date. But they were still the same or it wouldn't be good, right?

She kicked him lightly under the counter and looked as innocent as humanly possible.

Julio winced and rubbed his leg. "Thank you, Angel." He grunted. Carefully, and without even looking at her, he arranged his spoon on top of some creamers and then launched another creamer packet at Angel. When in doubt, act like you were twelve.

She yelped a little when it smacked her in the middle of the forehead and sent it back at him with a flick of her finger. Angel was giggling quietly, taking care not to knock over any food or drink. That would be a crime.

He deflected the creamer and it bounced off the empty table behind them, earning them some looks from the too-cool patrons behind them. Julio laughed and shook his head. "So, what do your parents think of me?" he said, while idly playing with another creamer.

Tilting her head at him, she grinned. "They like you," she said after a second. "My mom thinks you're a gentleman and my dad..." Angel laughed. "He thinks you're a good kid which is high compliment for a guy from him. I think...they're happy I made really good friends here. I know they were worried, I'd never lived anywhere else before."

Julio flushed a little at the compliments. "Well, I think a lot of us have the same situation. I have not lived in the United States since I was two, and I have never been so far away from family." He stacked the creamers into a pyramid on the table. "I would also like to apologize for my father, he's a little weird. But he says he likes you."

She waved a hand at him before pushing more creamers towards him, curious as to how high they could stack them before they toppled over. "No worries. He was nice, though, and he made me laugh." Even if Julio looked like he was going to die when she gave him the phone back. "All dads are weird, it's their job."

"I know, but my father is... a special kind of weird." He added more creamers to the stack. "I hope he did not embarass you or anything."

"Julio, my dad pulled out the photo album--all taken by him of course, or so he says--and showed you pictures of me when I was five. Running down the hallway. Naked." When the couple next to them left, Angel reached over and snagged their bowl of creamers.

Julio laughed. "That is true. I am fairly certain that there are no naked pictures of me, thankfully." He added another row to his pyramid, which was starting to become pretty impressive. "My grandparents were not the naked picture type. Nor is my father, who is allergic to most technology. Except for guns, of course."

"Be grateful. There are pictures of me in every stage--second by second replays--of life." She grimaced, holding her breath as the pyramid nearly fell but thankfully restabilized. Behind the camera was better for her, more comfortable and normal feeling. "And he loves to use the pictures against me."

"It could be worse, your father could love guns." He attempted to add another row and pyramid finally gave, scattering creamers all over their table. "Oh yes, it could be much worse. I almost thought your father would be cleaning a shotgun in front of me when I arrived for Christmas." Luis himself had taught Julio how to assemble, disassemble, aim and shoot almost every type of gun, and instilled a healthy respect of firearms in the boy.

"Naaah. More than likely my dad's probably going to beat you with his cane. He'd do the whole "grr, man, tackle!" thing but his leg makes it hard. So cane beating it is." Angel snickered. "And then you'd get to see my mom yell at my dad. They don't do it so often--guess that divorce helped a lot--so it's kind of funny."

"That is better," Julio said with a nod, "Canes are much easier to dodge. If you do not mind me asking, why did your parents divorce? Especially when you were so little?"

"They said they were both too selfish," Angel answered after a minute. "Dad hadn't been injured for that many years and was still dealing with it. Mom was starting up her lawyering practice. I think if I hadn't, you know, been born they might have been able to stick it out. They said they could be unselfish enough for me but not for each other." And in the end, they'd picked separating rather than raise her while they grew to hate each other. "They're good friends, though."

Divorce was still something of an unfamiliar concept for Julio. "I noticed that, when we were at your father's place. I was wondering, because they were so friendly. I thought most people who divorced hated each other." He took a drink of his coffee before continuing. "My father never remarried after my mother. He said my mother was the only one for him." He'd also pounded the fact that marriage was a sacred institution into his son's head. Unfortunately that hadn't really stuck...

Angel grew silent, eyebrows drawn together. "Huh. You know, my parents...never dated anyone else after they split? I just didn't think about that until now." She shook her head, strands of hair falling out of place. "And your dad is really nice, you know. I like him."

Julio shrugged. "Perhaps they were too busy? That is my father's excuse for never dating. And my father can be very nice, yes, when he likes someone. I hope that one day you will be able to meet him. That would mean I would have to take you to Mexico with me some day." He grinned.

She grinned back. "That'd be awesome. The only foreign country I've ever been to is Canada and, well, that doesn't really count, you know? What's it like over there?"

"Ah, well, I do not know how much you know about Mexico. But Guadalajara is very pretty, and very warm in the summer. Not a whole lot of anglos have found us yet," he said, grinning again. "You would love our house, it's pink. And Ana, our housekeeper, would probably mother you to death, being the first girlfriend she's ever met." He paused, eyes slightly wide. Oh, he did not just say that, did he? He did. He was an idiot.

That had been the wrong time to take a bite to eat. Now, there was a small piece of muffin lodged in her throat, Angel thought wildly, desperately trying not to choke. It took a few seconds before she gave up and somehow managed to set it on fire so that it got smaller, finally sliding down where it should have gone. The only problem was that smoke came out of her nose.

Grabbing a tissue, she clamped it to her nose and then grinned sheepishly at Julio, certain she was as red as her hair. "We're, um, quite a pair..."

Julio put his head in his hands and began to laugh helplessly. He got himself under control only to look at Angel's red face and began laughing again. "You are too cute," he finally managed to choke out. "We are quite the pair, aren't we?"

Rubbing frantically at her nose--'Itches itches itches!'--for a few seconds and then she stopped, giggling. "We are," Angel said, crumpling up the napkin so she had something to play with. "This is really nice."

"It is," Julio agreed. "It is is nice to get out and be normal for a little while, even if we do not live up to the older kids' definition of insanity." Impulsively Julio reached across the table and took Angel's hand in his, rubbing her fingers with a thumb. Normal. This was very definitely what he wanted. Simple and uncomplicated.

She rolled her eyes, laughing. "Our insanity might not be otherworldly worth but it's still insane enough for us," Angel said, squeezing his hand. It was a good feeling; the entire date had been just...good. Fun. Nice. She giggled. "And normal for us does include random acts of fireage."

"And blowing smoke out your nose." Julio grinned.

"I'd be embarrassed about it but it means I can probably breathe fire which is so awesome." Angel beamed at him.

"Remind me to never piss you off."