xp_logs | Angelo, Sooraya and Yvette, Sunday afternoon (Reply)

He goes to the boathouse to find the girls and tell them some things, but not others.

He'd done almost everything he needed to before leaving the mansion, including cutting his hair into near-nonexistence. There was just one thing left to do, and there was a reason he'd left it to last. Explaining to Sooraya and Yvette without telling them the full truth wasn't going to be easy, but he couldn't just leave with no explanation at all.

So, finally, Angelo made his way down to the boathouse to look for them.

The two girls were at the big table, a sheaf of papers spread out in front of them and Yvette's computer at the ready. "Here," Sooraya was saying, leaning over the laptop and tapping something out, index finger poised above the keyboard. "This is a good article to read. I think it is good to read it next."

The smaller girl nodded, leaning forward to peer at the screen, lips moving as she made out the words. Then she stopped, and reached for the Albanian-English-Albanian dictionary that sat next to the laptop, rolling her eyes a little at Sooraya. "It is being the time for my new best friend," she observed wryly as she flipped through the book for the word she needed a translation of. Then, at the sound of the outside door opening, she looked up, her smile slipping as she took in Angelo's rather dramatic new look. "Mr. Angelo?" she asked, sounding a little unsure it was him.

That reaction got a faint smile, and he nodded. "Hey, chiquitas. Yeah, it's me. How's it goin'?"

Sooraya turned to face the young man and gasped loudly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "You are different! Why is all your hair gone?"

...well, that was an unexpectedly difficult question to answer, in the circumstances. He chose his words carefully. "'Cause there's somethin' I have to do, that needs me to look different like this. That's what I came down to tell you about. I'm goin' to be gone for a while."

"'Gone'?" A small note of worry entered Yvette's voice. "Are you being going for the Elpis business, Mr. Angelo?" It was too soon after the bombing for him to be working so hard, even if Mr. Angelo was talking and smiling again.

"In a way", he answered slowly after a moment. "I can't really tell you too much about it, not 'til it's over an' maybe not then. I would if I could. But it's goin' to be fine, an' I'll be back soon." He hoped.

Sooraya's shock faded away to other emotions: worry was foremost among these. "It is dangerous, what you are doing?" she asked, dropping her hands to her lap and picking at her sleeves.

"It... might be", he had to admit, unwilling to lie to them. "But Nathan's goin' to be keepin' tabs on things, an' there'll be other people lookin' out for me too."

"And, it is being... the necessary?" Yvette asked, looking at Sooraya with the same worried look as the other girl. "It is being to be making the people safe?"

"Yes." That answer came without a second's hesitation. "It's to make people safe, an'... it really is necessary."

Even though Sooraya was distressed by Angelo's seemingly-sudden decision to leave, and she knew Yvette was too, it really wasn't her place to question it. "I wish you do not have to go. But I hope you are to stay safe and come back soon."

Biting her lip a little, Yvette nodded. "I am also wishing you are not going, but I am... understanding. Please to be being careful?" The question was asked in an anxious tone. "And we are to be looking after Joyita when you are being gone, yes? With Miss Rahne?" She glanced at Sooraya for confirmation.

"We will be taking very good care for her," Sooraya agreed, equally eager to help in any way possible.

"That's good", he said with a relieved smile. "My mom would, but she needs more space than that house, if you two can look after her for me." And he knew well enough that it'd do them good to feel they were helping.

"We will." On impulse, Yvette slipped from her chair and gave Angelo a careful hug, keeping her face and hair away from his clothes. "I will be missing you. Please to be coming back soon."

"I'll do my best", he promised, giving her an equally careful hug in return and looking at Sooraya over her head, directing it just as much to her. "I hope it'll be real soon."

"We hope that too. If it is not, we will tell Nathan to use his fire-bird to find you," the Afghan girl told him solemnly, without a hint of teasing in her voice. "Or the teachers and their black plane."

He wasn't laughing when he answered. "I'm not goin' that far, I promise. Nathan's gonna know where I am, so... it'll be okay."

"It will be being okay," Yvette reiterated, although it sounded like she was as much reassuring herself as emphasising Angelo's words. She gave him a wide glowing blue look. "And when you are being coming back, you are being growing the hair to be back, yes?"