xp_logs | Angelo and Doug, Wednesday after work

Doug comes by to give Angelo the pseudo-brotherly Talk, and Angelo takes the opportunity to sound him out a little about how things stand with Angie.

Doug knocked quietly on the door to Angelo's room. Since he'd come to the mansion to do his weekly tutoring, he had decided to take advantage of his location with a small side trip. He glanced over at Forge's door, which was shut, which meant the inventor was probably down in the lab with his latest creation. Doug swallowed down conflicting feelings as he turned back to Angelo's door.

He was greeted by barking before the door opened to reveal Angelo holding onto Joyita's collar. "Hey, Doug", he said with a grin, releasing the dog.

"Hey yourself," Doug replied with an answering smile as he offered his hand to Joyita for smelling so she could reacquaint herself with his scent. "Looking a little more relaxed, I see," he continued as he took in the other man's body language.

He got his hand briefly sniffed and then thoroughly licked for his trouble, before Angelo reached down to pat the dog's head and she turned her attention back to him. "Yeah, I'm... doin' a lot better. How're you?"

"I've been...up and down," Doug replied with a shrug, waving a hand in dismissal. "Work's been busy." He leaned against the door with a smirk. "So things are going well with Amanda, I take it?"

"Goin' very well", was the plainly contented answer. "Now we've got things clear."

"So I'm guessing you finally picked up the clue phone that was ringing off the hook," Doug ribbed Angelo good-naturedly. "I thought for a while there I was going to have to go all Mallrats and 'you're retarded for each other'. Because you are. But I'm glad you figured it out on your own."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah", he said, laughing, then gave his friend a look. "So, this up an' down... all because of work?"

"Getting buttstroked by paranoid Iraqi military? Not much fun." A wave of Doug's hand drew Angelo's attention to where the faded remnants of bruising could be seen. "Not to mention I'm -still- exhausted from all the running around I had to do to keep everything together in that camp."

Angelo winced, at the bruising and at the words both. "Well, yeah. Can't've been much fun bein' the only guy who could talk to everybody, either."

"Being the guy who helped avert international war was kinda cool," Doug admitted. "Getting a lot of guns pointed at me in the process..." He grimaced in remembrance. "Mostly it's just the exhaustion that's beating me up right now. I -still- feel like I'm behind on sleep."

Angelo blinked. "That doesn't sound so good. You've been sleepin' nights since you got back, right?"

"For the most part. If something touches my neck in the middle of the night..." Doug trailed off. "I've been talking to Sofia about it, and I'm actually doing better with it than I thought I would. Yay progress."

He pointed a finger at Angelo mock-severely. "But this isn't about my trauma. Since Mr. Sefton's all banged up, and he's probably too nice to do it anyway, you get the obligatory 'hurt her and I make your life miserable' speech from me." He paused. "Except all I really had was 'hurt her and I make your life miserable'. Well, that and something about technology hating you. So there you go. Speech." He grinned. "But I know you well enough to know you'll both be good for each other."

Angelo tried to keep a straight face during the whole speech, but it broke when Doug grinned, and he laughed. "Well, I hope so. Gonna do my best, anyway."

Doug shrugged. "I figured it was obligatory. Besides, I care about her a lot, and I just want her to be happy, y'know?" He chuckled. "I was beginning to think you guys would never get the clue, though."

"Yeah, we know what you were gettin' at at the prom. Or we do now, anyway."

An unrepentant grin stole across Doug's face. "Better late than never, at least." It had been fun, maneuvering the pair together. He was glad that it had finally paid off.

Angelo chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that. So, hey, how's Angie after the mission? Haven't seen her lately."

"She's been...I don't know, really," Doug admitted. "We were all kind of beaten up and dusty after getting back, but apparently she and Forge are..." He trailed off and his eyes tightened momentarily before he shrugged in an attempt to look like he wasn't as jealous as he was. "...doing whatever."

Angelo had been watching for something like that, and didn't miss the expression, fleeting as it was. "Yeah, I saw the journals", he said non-committally. He'd be tracking Forge down when he got the chance, to find out what was going on there. It had been suspiciously sudden, all things considered.

Doug's eyes unfocused for a second, as if he were lost in thought and not paying attention to his surroundings. He blinked and shook himself out of it, somewhat at a loss for words. It was none of his business, and it wasn't Marie-Ange's fault that she had moved on while he hadn't. Maybe if he told himself that enough times he might believe it.

Angelo hadn't missed that, either, given it had been easier to catch. "You okay, man?"

"Hm? Fine. Just a little...distracted," Doug said quietly. "Sorry I'm such poor company."

"You're not", Angelo tried to reassure him quickly. "Just... want to stop talkin' about Angie?"

Doug couldn't hide the grateful look that flashed across his face at Angelo's suggestion. "So, catch me up on the mansion gossip," he said as Joyita nudged his hand to demand more attention.