Marie and Angelo, Thursday night

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Marie and Angelo talk about her new car before going out for dinner.

Marie sat in the dark room, legs crossed and foot moving impatiently in the air. She'd have to talk to Nate about the hours he was making Angelo keep - she had expected him back at least half an hour ago. And she wasn't sure how much longer she could resist the temptation to do redecorate the room in ribbons and kittens.

"Making" had nothing to do with it, as Nathan would no doubt tell her indignantly if she did corner him about it. The wait was at an end anyway, though, as she heard Angelo's key in the door.

She grinned at the cautious look on his face when he flipped on the lights. "Boo," she said before holding out her hand. "Ok, Ah admit it. That was well done."

He grinned back, with just the tiniest wariness as he wondered if she might be planning more retaliation. "Forge caved, huh? Glad you appreciated it."

"Well," Marie said grinning. "Ah really should thank you pair. Ah'm gonna look awful cute in that new Beetle of mine."

"...he got it runnin' again for you?" Angelo looked impressed. "Considerin' it cost us about fifty bucks each from the scrapyard, I guess we made a pretty good investment."

"Well, Ah made a rather...convincing argument," Marie replied, her eyes sparkling. "And it's not like Ah could really get mad at y'all...Ah did kinda start this whole thing." She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "It was kinda fun though, right?"

"What'd you bribe him with?" Angelo asked, amused. "Food works. Or did you just go straight t'the threats? An' hell yeah, it was fun."

Marie held her hands out in an attempt to look innocent. "Me? Threaten? Ok, there might have been a few choice words and a question as to how cold the lake is right now."

"You play dirty", he said, laughing. "So. Now you've got this shiny new car out of the deal, who gets to be your first passenger?"

"Ah was thinking maybe one of the mischevious fellas that helped me aquire it in the first place," she said, jangling her keys in the air. "You had dinner yet?"

"Not yet", he said, grinning unashamedly. "An' you know me an' my tendency to forget..."

"Dinner's on me," Marie said, heading towards the door. "It...well, delayed as it was, your timing couldn't have been better. Needed something light and fun around here."

"I figured", he said with a wry smile. "Kind of glad it did take me so long to get somethin' together, now."

"They'll find him soon," she said, more to herself than to Angelo. Shaking her head, she smiled wryly at him. "But that's enough about that for tonight." Pausing as they reached the garage, she patted the hood of her VW. "So let's test this baby out."

"Ready when you are", he said with a grin, moving round to the passenger door.

"Only Forge would be able to get a relic like this working again," Marie said as she turned the key in the ignition, pulling out of the mansion's driveway smoothly. "Where did y'all find it?"

"Junkyard down the road", Angelo told her. "Just asked for the cheapest one they had that still had all the important parts from the outside, an'... this was it."

"Wondered how y'all settled on the color," Marie teased. "In the mood for anything particular?" she asked as she pulled to a stop at a red light.

"Nah, nothin' really. What d'you want?"

"Why don't we just stop at the first place that looks good? Ah wouldn't mind just driving for a bit first," she said with a shrug.

Angelo grinned, relaxing and just enjoying the time out with his friend. "Sure, let's do that. I'm not picky."

"So how are things between you and Sarah?" Marie asked. "Still having fun?"

He shot her a sideways look at that, then shrugged. "Yeah. Been sparrin' with her some, like we used to. An' the rest."

"Good for you. Glad to hear that being an X-Men isn't stealing all your personal time," she said. "Hmm...how about Chinese?" Marie asked as they neared a restaurant. "Or keep looking?"

"We can have Chinese if you want Chinese. An' no, it's not. All the other stuff, I do, now... but I still get time to myself once in a while."

"Chinese is it is then," she said, pulling the small car into the parking lot. "But then you get to pick where we go for dessert."

"It's a deal."