Nathan and Angelo, Friday morning

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The morning after the raid on Moses's house, Nathan and Angelo fight over coffee and talk about what happens next.


Nathan had, to put it mildly, collapsed upon returning to the guest house. Thankfully not on the floor, which would have probably alarmed the others to no end. He'd even made it upstairs, into the shower, and back out again. But no further than the bed, after that. He'd gotten thrown around entirely too much during the raid on Moses's place, and it wasn't as if any of them had been wearing the usual body armor.

It was the smell of coffee that woke him, and only to a point. Bleary-eyed and staggering just a little, he headed downstairs. To say that he was stiff would be understating the situation by... oh, several light years or so. The less said about his back this morning, the better.

The coffee was Angelo's, as it turned out, and he was hoarding it. He was sitting at the table with the pot in front of him, in the process of pouring his third cup.

"Tell me that all the coffee isn't gone," Nathan growled from behind him. "I might have to hurt you if it is."

"There's a bit left", Angelo assured him, glancing over his shoulder and opting for discretion. "An' there'll be more in about five minutes."

"What good are you, if you drink all the coffee?" It didn't sound entirely facetious. Nathan sank into the nearest chair. His hair was sticking straight up in patches, and he didn't seem to be focusing clearly on Angelo. "Why do I keep you around, you coffee-stealing... coffee thief."

"I maim vibranium smugglers for you", Angelo retorted, matching Nathan's tone.

Nathan blinked at him, then raised an eyebrow. It spoke volumes.

Angelo just returned the look, in no particular mood to explain it if Nathan didn't already know what had happened.

Nathan shook his head. "So. Woe or just commenting?"

"Just commentin'", he said with a shrug. "Not like they didn't deserve it. But I didn't know my powers worked like that."

"You tend to make breakthroughs under stress," Nathan said, eyeing Angelo's cup of coffee. "That's kind of one of the rules. Sort of. Are you not going to drink that?"

"Hands off my coffee", Angelo growled, picking it up protectively. "I told you, there's some left for you. An' yeah, I guess you do."

The pot started to levitate over - and then hit the ground. Thankfully, it was of metal and didn't break, but Nathan jumped out of his chair, cursing, and went over to pick it up. "... son of a bitch... coffee does not belong on the floor," he muttered to himself as he did.

Angelo blinked. "...okay, you're not hungover, so how'd that happen?"

"I'm tired, all right?" The response was more than vaguely grumpy. Close to snarly, as a matter of fact. "And I'm not at my best, still. I haven't been since my little turning-my-brain-inside-out trick."

Angelo just shrugged and turned back to his coffee. "Whatever you say."

"My coffee is on the floor," Nathan said. Very woefully. The puppy-dog eyes made a sudden appearance. "This is unfortunate."

"You're not having mine. You've got the pot - make yourself some more", was the heartless response.

Rubbing at his eyes and muttering, Nathan headed over to do just that. "We need to figure out how we're getting home," he said. "Although I think I'll stay on for a few days, see if I can't get some of our actual work done. Entertaining diversion though this was..."

"...on your own?" Angelo asked warily. "You know it was meant to be three or four people's work, right? I think I should stay if you do."

"You," Nathan said, pointing at him, "are going back to celebrate your birthday with your friends. I doubt Amanda's forgotten how to pout, if I was heartless enough to keep you away for your birthday when you didn't really need to be. I'll ask Rahne and John what they want to do." He was assuming that Ororo would be wanting to get back to the school - although possibly that was a bad assumption. She and T'Challa seemed to have a certain dynamic. "If you all decide to go back, and I get into it and find out it's too much, I'll phone Tel Aviv and get someone to come over."

"...okay", Angelo conceded, because he really did want to be in America for his birthday. "But if you're not back by my birthday, I'm sendin' Clarice to get you."

"You already got your present, you know."

"I know. But I want my family there."

Comments

[xp_daytripper]

I doubt Amanda's forgotten how to pout, if I was heartless enough to keep you away for your birthday when you didn't really need to be.

Damn straight I haven't.

*g*