xp_logs | Jono and Angelo, in the gym

Jono and Angelo have a "talk".

Jono steeled himself as he walked into the gymnasium. No doubt Angelo was on a crusade about something - pretty easy to guess what.

Angelo was over in a corner, warming up, and half-turned as he heard the footsteps, greeting the other man with a nod. "Jono."

"Ange," Jono replied, hands in his pockets. "This some kind of secret meeting? 'The pigeons flap at midnight' or some cryptic shite like that?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say secret", Angelo returned coolly, finishing what he was doing and leaning against the wall. "I just wanted to ask you a thing or two."

"What's this all about then?" Jono asked, stopping in his tracks and folding his arms across his chest. "You've got that voice like I need a good talking-to and you're the man to do it, am I right?"

"Unless you'd rather I got Scott - or maybe Paige? - in on it, yeah, I am." He was giving Jono a distinctly unimpressed look. "Don't think either of them'd be any more pleased to hear about you punchin' out a guy six inches shorter than you with only two of his real limbs left. Hope it made you feel better."

"Oh, fuck off about that already," Jono groaned, one hand smacking his forehead in frustration. "The little tosser had it coming."

"No. You knew what this was about when I called you down here, an' I'm not done yet. What's gonna be next, Jono, thumpin' Leong if he gets a crush on Paige? He's gettin' to be old enough."

"Dammit, it isn't that simple an' you know it!" Jono raged, pacing about. Suddenly, he stopped eyes fixed on his former roommate. "Or suppose you tell me exactly what it was that broke up you an' Paige after I went and exploded, yeah? I come back an' you're neatly out of the picture, an' I don't believe for a second you two just 'drifted apart'. You tell me how that works, Ange."

"No, you're right", Angelo said calmly, after a few moments adjusting to the sudden turn in the conversation and considering the question. "It was more complicated than that. But it was as much my decision as hers, an' Forge didn't come into it. If you must know, she had a breakdown after you blew up, an' when she was well again, we figured out it hadn't been workin' for a while before that. It really did just end quietly."

"But then in he comes, didn't he?" Jono accused. "Opportunistic little bastard. You don't see it, Ange. You've got Amanda, an' your mum, an' Nate, an' Elpis, an' the X-Men. You'll fight for any one of them, because they're yours. Me? All I have is Paige," he said quietly, "She's all I've got. An' just because some sodding 'genius' lad thinks they share some deep connection, some 'partnership', I'm not gonna let that ruin it. Not this time."

He gestured to his bandaged face. "Think about it, Angelo. Think about everything I can't give her. An' maybe you might understand where I'm coming from when I want to hold on to what I can."

"Nothin' happened between him an' Paige that I ever knew about", Angelo contradicted. "I know he wanted it, but if there ever was anythin', it wasn't enough to be public - an' you know what this place is like with secrets. Also, two more things. Paige gets a say in this too. An' she's not all you've got. I'd fight for you as well. So would Sarah. An' probably more people in this house than you think." Hearing the last part, he sighed. "Listen. Forge told me himself that Paige's made her choice and he'll abide by that. Whatever happened when you were out of the picture, he's over it. He's not a threat to you any more than I am now."

"Is he now." Jono intoned, his mental voice going flat and clear. "Well, isn't he just the fine upstanding young lad? I suppose I ought to go clap him on the back, buy him a pint, and let bygones be bygones." He stopped and narrowed his eyes. "Ain't happening, mate. I don't trust the bloke, not an inch. But..." He paused, then looked at the floor. "I do trust her. An' you're right, she gets a say. But so do I, Ange. I'm done with compromisin', and I'm done with settlin'."

"You say you trust her, then show it", Angelo told him. "You wanted to know what killed us - that. She didn't trust me enough to tell me anythin', even when she was goin' crazy. You trust her not to go off with anyone else, even if they do try for it, then leave Forge alone. I'm not sayin' you two need to be friends, but... leave him alone. Otherwise when he comes out with more bruises, you wind up as the bad guy, and we'll have to have another little talk like this. Maybe with a spar thrown in."

"You and your Lancelot complex," Jono said with a halfhearted mocking gesture. "But fair enough. So long as he knows his place, he'll get no further trouble from me. Best I'm willing to give, Ange." Jono turned to go, then looked over his shoulder. "Like I said, I'm done compromisin'."

"Then you've gotta take it up with Paige as well", was the only answer, Angelo looking at him squarely. "Like I said... she gets a say."

"Believe me," Jono said as he walked out the door, "I plan to."