xp_logs | Angelo and Forge, Monday afternoon (Reply)

Forge catches up with his suitemate, and manages to push the right buttons to set off the explosion that's been brewing for a while. But it's all to the good in the end.

Angelo had been quite determinedly going on with Life as Normal, since everyone had come back safely. Classes, as much of his usual physical activity as he could manage with still-healing ribs, all the rest of it. You could even say he was throwing himself into it even more enthusiastically than usual. And it had nothing to do with anything that had happened, or was happening now.

The fact that he'd started letting Joyita sleep on his bed again, and had been out drinking with Miguel twice in the last week, was irrelevant too.

Forge whistled an off-key tune as he shuffled out of his room and into the common area of the suite. He'd checked the laundry basket, but couldn't find his good button-down shirt. He was certain Angelo wouldn't have borrowed it, and wracking his brain to remember where he'd left it, he couldn't help but -- Aha! Angie, he thought, remembering the final part of the ruse they'd pulled on Doug. He'd have to call the young Frenchwoman and eventually ask for the shirt back, fetching as he was sure she looked in it.

Or, he realized, catching sight of Angelo's open door, he could just have Amanda fetch it. He walked over, knocking on the doorframe as he stuck his head in, looking for the blonde witch, but only seeing his suitemate. "Oh, hey Ange. I was... Amanda's not around, is she?"

Angelo glanced up from his book and shook his head. "Nah, she's at home, far as I know. Restin', or workin' if nobody's checked on her an' made her stop."

"Far as you know?" Forge cocked an eyebrow and leaned against the doorframe. "That's... unusual. Or is that one of those 'they're off being superspies again' code phrases?"

"It's where she was last time I saw her, this mornin'", Angelo said with a shrug. "An' since I don't think she's much for goin' out right now but you never know... yeah. Far as I know."

"Ah."

Forge had missed most of the shenanigans of the past few days, having been busy with those of his own, albeit of a less hostile nature. And while he'd only been told the basics - that Angelo and Amanda had been part of the group abducted from the bus trip and ransomed for some magic rocks - he knew firsthand how the trauma of an unwilling abduction could take its toll.

"Go see her, dork," he said cheerfully. "You guys probably need couple-time right now. I mean, if you need privacy or something I can just pull an all-nighter in the lab or crash over at Marius's suite..."

"No, it's okay", Angelo said, very carefully not too quickly. "She's... her back's not all healed up yet, an' the rest of it... she needs a bit of recovery time." It was all true, as far as it went.

"And since when does recovery time not include you?" Forge was puzzled. "Something up?"

"Well, it does. I mean, I've been goin' over there every day, an' all. But, I just, you know... don't wanna crowd her." He shrugged slightly, turning away a little on the pretext of putting his book down on the bed.

"Aaah, quit being such a chicken-wuss," Forge teased, oblivious to his suitemate's discomfort. "Surprise her, dinner and flowers or whatever it is you two find romantic, and go do, I don't know, coupley stuff. Because man, you're really starting to remind me of me with the all overworked-and-intense vibe, and while normally I'd be very proud, you've got a girlfriend and a life, man. Push yourself any harder and you'll turn into Nathan."

"I know", was the response, not quite snapped. "It's nothin' to do with how hard I work... even if I do have catchin' up to do."

"Catching up?" Forge shook his head. "Dude, you look like you got beat to shit. You wince every time you try and lift anything. Not that I can tell with the whole already-grey, but I'll bet you haven't slept more than three hours a night since you got back. Take a break already, amigo. Nothing's so important you need to burn yourself out."

"That's 'cause I did", Angelo said with a wry grin, not touching the issue of how much he had or hadn't been sleeping. "But seriously... one thing an' another, I didn't do so well on my exams this year. Got to make up for that, an' as for the rest... Nathan's makin' me take time off work, so that's one thing down. I'll be okay."

"Sure you will," Forge said quietly, trying to judge his suitemate's emotional state, then hedging a guess. "You know, if you need to talk about what happened, you're not the only person in this place that's gone through this. Hell, you're not the only person in this suite, as a matter of fact."

"I don't need to - " Angelo began, voice sharpening suddenly as he looked up. "Everyone wants me to talk about it. You, Jack, Scott... but it's over. It's done, an' it's not the worst that's ever happened to me. Now's just for gettin' on."

"Sure it is," this time the sarcasm wasn't hidden in Forge's voice. "I tell you, I am starting to get sick and tired of this happening to all my friends. If it's not bigots beating one half to death it's crazy people trying to turn them into monsters or wacko cultists kidnapping them for bargaining chips. And it's one thing for some lunatic to beat up my friends, but I will be damned if I'm going to sit around and watch them do it to themselves. And just dismissing it, that's not 'gettin' on', Angelo."

"Well, it's the best I can do!" His voice was perilously close to a shout, this time. "I got drugged an' kidnapped an' beat up. So what - I've had a lot worse an' come through it. The kids all made it out safe, even though I didn't do a damn thing to help them. But my girlfriend, she got taken by worse than had me, they carved her up an' when she was bleedin' in the middle of the night 'cause she broke her cuts open in a nightmare, I couldn't even help her then, 'cause I couldn't even look at what was under those bandages. An' now..." He turned away, sick and helpless and angry. "I still can't help her."

Forge winced, recalling the scars he'd once seen on Amanda's back, when he'd first arrived. He'd known that somehow they'd been healed - the thought that someone would do that again turned his stomach. "Has she asked for help?" he said after a moment's thought. "I... okay, I don't know much when it comes to love, but I've learned at least this much. There's not much worse than seeing someone you love hurting, and feeling unable to fix it. You'd do anything, but if you push too hard, you push them away."

He shrugged, moving away from the doorway and looking around Angelo's room at the various memorabilia of all the adventures the older man had been through: the cowboy hat on the back of a chair, the runed sword on the wall, the scars Angelo bore himself. "You've been through a lot of shit, and come through it. So's she. Let her ask for help if... when she wants it. She's strong."

"I know. I know she is", was the answer, Angelo's voice dropping again. "That's why I'm here an' she's over at the brownstone. If I spend too much time there, it's... it's like pushin'." There were other reasons, but none clear enough in his head to express, that he wanted to share.

"You'll both get through this," Forge agreed, moving from the doorway back into the main area of the suite. "Just... don't think you're burdening people if you need to vent or talk or anything. If you need to, just ask. But... yeah, no pushing here. You've got lots of folks here if you need us."

Angelo glanced up at him with a simple nod... and not without gratitude in his eyes. "I know. An' when I need to, when I can, I will. Thanks."