xp_logs | Medusa and Angelo, Tuesday lunchtime in Tel Aviv

Medusa goes to check on Angelo at the villa. He starts off by avoiding her questions but eventually she gets him to talk - and of course, agree to eat.

He hadn't been expecting any visitors, except the people who always came to try and get him to either rest or to get some fresh air. So, Angelo was sitting by the window ignoring any and all noises in the corridor outside.

Medusa cleared her throat as she neared Angelo, not wanting to startle him. "I was wondering if there is anything I may assist you with," she said, knowing that he was just like Nathan when it came to resting. It tended to just be easier for her to take work from both men than try and convince them to rest when they weren't ready to or about to fall over from lack of sleep.

He blinked, though he didn't startle too much, and twisted to face her. "...hey, Medusa. Um. No... I haven't been doin' much of the work. Mom an' Theo won't let me."

"Good," she said, her hair reaching out to pull a chair over. Once she was seated, she cocked her head. "You know, I realize I have not asked how you are holding up."

And there was the one question he didn't want to answer honestly. He looked away again, towards the window. "'Bout as well as you'd expect."

Green eyes didn't waver from him, even though he wouldn't match her gaze. "That does not answer the question."

"What, you want a detailed description?"

"If it would help," she replied. "And if it would not, then there is no reason to do so."

He actually gave that some thought, though he still didn't turn to look at her. "I don't know what'd help, now. You've been watchin' the news?"

"I have," Medusa said steadily. "And I know how difficult it is for both you and Nathan to see Domino as she is...and how hard it must have been to be there when it happened."

That got a flinch, quickly suppressed, and his voice was flat and tired when he answered. "You do, huh? You know about wakin' up in what used to be an office buildin', then diggin' one of your best friends out of the rubble an' tryin' to keep her alive long enough for the paramedics?"

Medusa didn't visibly react, beyond a slightly hard glint in her eyes. "I know what it is like to wake up with a gun pointing in your face while your little sister lies in the same room and wonder if the two of you will ever see your parents again." She paused, eyes growing softer. "It is not the same exact experience, but traumatic experiences rarely occur the exact same way twice. I do not mean to cheapen your experience by saying that I understand."

"I know you didn't", he conceded after a moment, quietly. "Shouldn't have snapped. Sorry." He hadn't snapped at her, exactly, but it amounted to the same thing just at the moment.

"You do not need to apologize," Medusa said with a shrug. "Though you continue to tell me about what occurred, not how you are doing." Though the answer is becoming apparently obvious.

He knew it was obvious - he just couldn't do anything much about it, couldn't seem to break out of the apathy except in short bursts. And talking was... difficult. "Maybe I don't know what to say about it. I'm alive, Domino's alive. Other people aren't."

"And you feel guilty, to have survived?"

"...maybe", he admitted quietly. "I just... don't know why I did. I was on the second floor, didn't even start gettin' further out than that, 'cause I... Dom was there, I couldn't leave her. I don't know why I just got a concussion, an'..."

Medusa sighed before she spoke, her voice soft. "You will never know why. Was it luck? Chance? Or part of some grand design? And does it really matter which reason? Would you feel less guilty if you knew why?"

He hadn't put it very well, he thought vaguely. He had some idea of why he'd got away with a concussion, and Domino's powers had a lot to do with it. But he'd never talk about that in detail with anyone but Domino, and anyway, he didn't understand why him. He nodded slowly. "I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I know we need to pick up from this and go on, but I can't see how."

"And that is fine," Medusa said, shifting slightly in her seat. "For now, I think you just do what you can, nothing more."

"But there's so much", he said almost plaintively. "I mean, I know... what needs to be done, if we're gonna get back on our feet. An' there's so much, an' I can't even turn on the news. How much help'm I gonna be now?"

"That is what other people are here for - to take care of those things. There are quite a number of dedicated individuals working to get Elpis back on its feet and I have no doubt they will succeed." Medusa didn't want to go as far as to say he didn't need to do anything, but she wanted to make it clear that he didn't have to until he was ready.

"...yeah", he acknowledged, subsiding again. "I know. An' we'll get there." But he still felt guilty about not being able to help, on top of everything else.

"One step at a time," Medusa said reassuringly. "Starting with some lunch perhaps?" Crystal would never let her live down joining the masses of Xaverites who offered food during all difficult situations, but sometimes it was needed.

He looked up at her, then actually managed a faint chuckle. "Sure. I'll have lunch."

"Lead the way," she said, smiling at him, glad to at least see a glimmer of the old Angelo she was used to working with.