xp_logs | Crystal and Angelo

Backdated. After she recovers from Scream/Run/Kazoo day, Crystal checks on Angelo.

Crystal's signature taps of wind hit the door to the suite shared by Forge and Angelo, not that Angelo would be likely to recognize the sound for what it was. She had only come here before to talk to Forge, and that had been before Angelo moved in, way back in the summer when things were both more complicated and less complicated.

He didn't pick up on the method, no, but it was still pretty clearly knocking, so he came to the door, smiling a little bemusedly when he saw who it was. "Hey, Crystal."

"Hello, Mr. Espinosa," Crystal responded with a smile. "I hope I am not intruding. I am sorry that I did not come to see you sooner. I was avoiding the screaming and the kazoo on Monday, and I was not entirely certain that such behavior would not be repeated yesterday. I wanted to come by personally to see how you are doing, so here I am."

"Ah", he said with a wry grin in response to the first part. "Yeah, I went out to avoid those too. Thanks for comin' by, you're not intrudin'." He stepped aside from the door to let her in.

Crystal nodded as she stepped inside. "Contrary to what seems to be the popular belief around here, not everyone appreciated the loud sounds from Monday. I understand why he did it, but..." She shook her head. "Mondo's acts of screaming and running around while playing a kazoo did not cause all mansion residents to smile and relax and in fact had the opposite effect on certain people. I hope that neither he nor anyone else will decide to do this again and will allow people to decide how to relax on their own."

"He meant well, I guess", Angelo said with a shrug. "Just wish he'd decided to have... I don't know, a movie night or somethin'. Anythin' but that."

"Other than that, how are you doing?" Seeing Nathan staring off into space without being surrounded by piles of work had been somewhat disconcerting. It had been good to see him appear to relax, true, but sitting in the sunroom in the dark?

"Better", he answered after a moment's consideration. "Not that it'd be difficult, but... I'm seein' Jack an' there's people around here, especially now Forge's back, an'... it all helps."

How interesting that the same situation could have entirely different effects on people. According to Angelo, being back at the mansion, around the people who lived here, around his suitemate, helped him. For Crystal, the opposite was true, but she hadn't had a choice about returning.

"I am certainly glad that you are better now," Crystal said with a smile, thinking about but not particularly wanting to mention other events that had transpired at the mansion, ones that had not at all contributed to helping Angelo be "better."

"Gettin' there, anyway", he said, with a slight smile in return. "An' you?"

"I am glad that you are getting better, then," Crystal amended. As for how she was doing... she didn't want to lie, but there were certain things she really didn't want to get into. Even if she did want to discuss them with someone, Angelo didn't need to hear about her current issues; the man had enough of his own troubles to deal with at the moment. Thinking quickly, Crystal settled for a positive spin on things, maintaining her smile. "I will be fine."

'Will be' didn't mean 'am'... but he really didn't know her well enough to press, even if he'd known the ways to go about it. "That's good to hear too. Enjoyed your trip home?"

"I am always glad when I am home," Crystal said, "although the circumstances for this return were not positive ones. It was not a trip for fun; it was one I needed to take to be in my own country, my own home, while all of the, well, craziness was occuring," She smiled slightly. "Not that I think the current craziness both here and in the world is over now, but I had to return to the school."

"Yeah", he said quietly. "Needin' to be with family... I get that. Glad you all decided you should come back, though." And he meant it.

Well then, that made two people here who were glad she hadn't stayed in Attilan. "The school year is not over yet and I intend to fulfil my parents' wishes and obtain a degree from Xavier's." Even if it kills me, which it really is.

"An' after that? You'll be headin' home again?"

Crystal nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes, I will return home after graduation." As much as she'd heard people say everyone who came to Xavier's either stayed or didn't stay away for long, she knew that wasn't true. People asked mentioned those who had been there and then left, and even in the nine months she'd been in New York, people had left. "Perhaps I will take a vacation, too, but then I will return home to Attilan."

Angelo nodded, not having expected anything else. "Three more months here, then. I hope you enjoy them a bit more than... sometimes."

There were sixty-two days left of school, not including Spring Break and weekends, but who was counting? "I hope so, too," Crystal told Angelo honestly. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me."

"Hey, any time", he said just as honestly. "You come by whenever you want."