xp_logs | Nathan and Angelo, Wednesday evening

Nathan drives Angelo to the airport, and does some last-minute fussing. Angelo is fairly tolerant, and intrigued by a few things Nathan tells him about his soon-to-be traveling companion.

"How's the arm?" Nathan asked wryly as he guided the car through rush-hour traffic towards JFK. There had been rather a number of immunizations required for travel to Myanmar, it turned out, and Angelo, like most sane people, wasn't all that crazy about needles.

"Sore," came the flat answer. "Someone needs t'invent a way to give injections all in one."

"Just think of it this way - you're protected against most things you'd encounter pretty much anywhere, for now. If we happen to head off somewhere else exotic soon, you probably won't have to have any shots at all." This was a bad time to be heading to the airport, but they were still well ahead of his flight. So long as the traffic didn't stop completely they should be fine.

"...good point," Angelo said a little more cheerfully, turning to look out of the window. "An' we go to exotic places all the time, so."

"Exactly. See? Silver lining." Nathan changed lanes, muttering something under his breath at the car in front of them. "You read all the briefing documents I gave you on the country?"

"Yep. Twice."

Nathan's eyes flickered sideways to him. "Look," he started reassuringly, "I know it's a little intimidating. But you were fine in Afghanistan, and comparatively speaking, I don't think Burma-Myanmar, pardon me," he corrected himself meticulously, "is really any more of a hostile environment."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. But you were there in Afghanistan."

And now they came right down to it. To be honest, Nathan wasn't all that keen on the idea of Angelo running off to Burma... Myanmar without him either, but he figured this was a test of sorts. If he'd invited himself along, he would have been telling Dom he didn't trust her, and suggesting to Angelo that he was being overprotective, after Moscow. Neither of which was a desirable impression to give.

"She can be trusted to keep her head, you know," he murmured. "All joking aside."

"Well, I figured," Angelo answered, mostly seriously. "She's made it this long, after all."

"Dom's only casual when it comes to her own safety," Nathan said, feeling the need to explain. "When she's with someone else, she's... very aware of risks. It has to do with her power. She's afraid she warps probability in only her favor, and sort of... deflects bad luck onto people around her."

"...I never knew that," came the quiet response. "Is that how her power works , or...?"

"I don't honestly know," Nathan said, forthrightly. He wasn't about to lie to Angelo. "The times I've had bad luck, with her... it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, anything that couldn't be easily explained. Nothing that could only have been the result of her powers, but that's not to say they didn't play a role."

Angelo nodded. "But not knowin' either way... yeah, I can see how she'd be worried about it."

"She'll be even more careful, with you." He'd had a talk with her, and realized that. "Maybe even paranoid, so don't be surprised if she seems that way, okay?"

"I'll remember," he promised. "An' not call her on it."

"Good." Nathan smiled a bit, focusing again on the road. "You're turning into quite the world traveler, you know."

Angelo grinned. "I know. It's great."

"You get a taste for it, you know... I feel restless if I'm in one place for too long, even now," Nathan confessed.

"I always wanted to travel anyway," Angelo reminded him with a shrug. "Just glad I got the chance."

"You're seeing it all in the best way, you know," Nathan said almost wistfully, changing lanes again. "Smichov aside, you're not visiting places in order to blow them up."

Angelo chuckled, giving him a wry sideways look. "Hey, we didn't blow up Smichov."

"You know what I mean." Nathan pursed his lips. "Make sure you stick to the cover story," he said. "Food aid. Even when you're alone. Myanmar doesn't like people asking about its human rights record."

"Yeah, I'll remember that too," Angelo said patiently.

He was fussing. And also beginning to repeat himself. Damn. Nathan grinned a bit ruefully. "Did you bring your vitamins?" he asked playfully. "Can't forget those..."

"Yes, I brought vitamins. An' water cleansing pills, an' everythin' else you put on the list." He was grinning, though.

"Ah, good. Because you know, lists are wonderful things. They're all... comprehensive." Cracking up laughing while driving in rush-hour traffic was not such a good idea, he told himself.

"They are when you make them."

Angelo wasn't helping. Really. Nathan stifled a snicker and rubbed at his jaw with one hand. "I can't wait to hear the stories you come back with. I imagine they will be hair-raising."

"Course they will be," he said airily. "An' we're gonna have fun gettin' them together."

"I wonder if I could talk Ray into considering her Aunt Nadia and Uncle Angelo to be my punishment in advance and behaving very, very well when she's a teenager..."

"Maybe in a few years."