Scott and Angelo, Saturday afternoon

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Scott and Angelo share a quiet moment out in the sun.


It was sunny again. And not before time, after a New York winter. Angelo was taking full advantage of it this weekend, choosing his spot out back and sprawling out to enjoy it.

"I always wondered - do you tan?" came a familiar voice, sounding slightly amused.

"I do", Angelo answered without bothering to open his eyes. He was wearing sunglasses anyway, so it wasn't as if Scott could tell. "A bit slower than most people, 'cause there's more skin to get through, but I do."

"I don't, or at least not very much," Scott admitted. "My system puts the UV to other uses, obviously." He sat down beside Angelo. "I'm shocked that you're out here and not in the office," he teased.

"Nathan locked the doors", was the deadpan response. "On account of it bein' Saturday. Also I don't have any college work this week, obviously, an' I didn't want to miss the sun."

"I got my work done earlier," Scott said, "so now I'm playing hooky. I feel vaguely guilty."

"What, for not bein' in your office when you haven't actually got any work to do?"

"See, there's always work to be done," Scott said in amusement. "I'm just still wrapping my mind around the concept that sometimes it's okay not to do it." He eyed Angelo for a moment. "You see to have gotten that down, at least."

"I did mention the part where Nathan locked me out of the boathouse, right?" he said dryly. "But... yeah. I talked to Pete in the hospital in Tel Aviv... he had a few things to say about... well."

"I've had a few epiphanies of my own, this last year," Scott said idly, staring out at the grounds. "It's a funny thing - you can't use work as avoidance when you aren't fit to do your job. Kind of opens up whole new questions about how and why you fill your hours."

"It does", Angelo agreed. "For me, there was still college work, after I got back from Tel Aviv, but... that only went so far." The rest of the time, he'd resorted to sword work and getting physically back up to scratch.

"I've been thinking of taking a couple of courses this summer," Scott said. "I do have a couple of courses already towards my master's degree in education. I'd never be able to do it full-time, obviously."

"Well, no. Not without givin' up other stuff, an'... yeah. there's a reason I'm doin' it part-time as well."

"I can't figure out why people get so annoyed when they hear you say there's too much to do and not enough hours in the day," Scott said good-humoredly. "Or at workaholics in general, so long as it's not destructive, of course. So many of us just have so much we want to acccomplish, and that's not such a bad thing, is it?"

"I think they worry about it turnin' destructive if you keep doin' it too long", Angelo observed, leaning back on the grass. "Or the whole thing where sometimes we forget to eat."

"Well, there is that." Scott was still smiling as he gazed out at the grounds. There were too few moments like this, really.

"How've you been, anyway? Haven't seen you out an' about for a while."

"Well, the 'Bird took a lot of attention. But I'm fine," Scott said easily. "Fully recovered and all. If rather envious of your vacation. How was Madagascar?"

"Sunny, hot an' really nice beaches", came the relaxed answer. "Pretty much perfect."

"Sounds like." Maybe he'd suggest Madagascar to Jean, for the summer.