xp_logs | Angelo and Laurie, Saturday afternoon (Reply)

Laurie comes to check on Angelo and they end up going to the sun room to talk. And then sleep.

Angelo had considered going out on the bus run, but he still wasn't up to walking very far or very fast, and the idea of keeping Amanda with him on the bus all day wasn't an appealing one. He knew she'd have done it gladly and never said a word of complaint, but still. He'd chosen to stay behind and practice with the crutches around the suite instead, so he'd be able to keep up next week.

Laurie knocked on the door to Forge and Angelo's suite, having been asked by Amanda to check in on Angelo and make sure he wasn't going stir crazy while she was gone.

He was, but only a little - just to the point where he might have decided to go and practice in the hallways instead if Laurie hadn't shown up. "Come in!" he called, slightly indistinct because of the three pieces of nicotine gum in his mouth.

Laurie opened the door, raising both eyebrows as she noticed the bulge in Angelo's mouth, "Gum not helping?" she surmised.

"Sort of", he said with a shrug. "Takes the edge off it, I guess. Doesn't stop me wantin' to go an' have a smoke." That was the trouble when it was a habit of years' standing - as much a psychological dependency as a physical one.

"Well, how about we go outside in the fresh air then? I'm told there's a really nice garden bench with a view of the lake, and we can feed the telepathic ducks." Laurie replied, walking further in and taking a look around.

"...we do not have telepathic ducks", he answered as he hobbled over and knocked the door shut with one of his crutches. "Do we?" The room was tidy, for once, though the couch had fairly obviously been slept on recently.

"Well, if you talked to Professor Xavier, he'd probably deny it," Laurie said, grin visible. "But I for one think they're just hiding it. Tricksy things, telepathic ducks."

"Must be very tricksy, t'hide it from the Professor", he said, straight-faced, and resisted the temptation to collapse on the couch. "You really want to go out?"

"Well, the sunshine will do you good, and we could just go to the sun room if you want somewhere comfortable to sit. You need your vitamin D," Laurie said, eyeing him where he stood.

He looked tired, but staying in his suite all day wouldn't help him heal. The sun room would be a good alternative, not so outside that he'd have to travel far but with enough sunlight to give his immune system a boost.

"...okay", he said after a moment, swinging back towards the door. "Just might have to take it slow - I'm still gettin' used to these things."

"Hmm, and here I was, thinking you'd want to go for a run," Laurie said, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Just think of how disappointed everyone will be. Of course we can go slow, silly. Dr Grey-Summers would kill me if I made you move about too much just yet. How are your lungs feeling, anyway?"

"Lot better than they were", he assured her. "I meant that part. Even stopped coughin' every time I move, a couple days ago."

"Good, so you'll be giving up smoking then?" Laurie asked, trying for a look of perfect innocence.

She'd given up trying to hint at Amanda to quit, considering the older girl was a lost cause but Angelo might just crack with sufficient help.

Angelo eyed her. "Do I have a choice? Like I said - someone took my cigarettes, I can't drive, Forge'd confiscate any I tried to order an' Jean says I can't have them. Sarah's my only hope if I was gonna get any more."

"It's better for you if you do, you know. There's more then enough studies to suggest that they're harmful and with a mutant, who knows what other damage they could do?" Laurie said, gesturing that he should go in front of her out of the door.

He obeyed, glancing awkwardly back over his shoulder as he went. "I think I'd know by now if it was anythin' but the usual. An' I have tried to give up before, you know."

"So speaks the eternally addicted to substances that are bad for them. Just what is it that's causing you so much trouble?" Laurie asked, catching up with him so she could walk alongside, the hallways here were large enough for it after all.

"It's stress relief", Angelo claimed. "Picked it up when I was younger than you, chain-smokin' helps calm me down when things get rough, an' here we are."

"You realize that nicotine actually makes you more jittery, right?" Laurie replied, smiling as they reached the sun room, it was one of her favourite parts of the mansion.

"Not me, it doesn't. Or maybe the tobacco or everythin' else they stuff 'em with outweighs it."

"I'd say it's more the fact that you _think_ it's making you calmer, is what makes you calmer," Laurie said simply, walking further in. "But far be it from me to be an anti-smoking advertisement. I sort of used up all my nagging ability on Amanda, and she was a lot less nice about telling me to mind my own business. She can be testy in the morning."

It had been one of the more interesting moments of her stay at the Brownstone, that and watching the interaction between the various people.

That got a blink as he followed her in, a little clumsy on the crutches. "She's not much of a mornin' person, no... when was this? Durin' the evacuation?"

"Yeah, I have a habit of being stubborn on things, especially when I think someone's doing something stupid. Personal choice isn't always a good enough excuse, although I try not to be insufferable." Laurie said, pointing toward one of the comfortable chairs set close to the large bay windows. "I think that one'll be easiest for you to sit in."

"Looks about right." He hobbled over and sank gratefully into it. "Seriously, though, I like cigarettes. But I know I can't have any now, whatever Pete says."

"What is it you like about them so much?" Laurie asked, sitting down in the seat conveniently next to the one Angelo was using. She really did want to understand, even if sometimes it seemed like she was hellbent on being against anything that even looked unhealthy.

"I told you - they help deal with it when things get rough. Helps me think stuff through better if I've got a cigarette an' time to smoke it. Even if it's just I think they calm me down", echoing her earlier objection, "somethin' sure does."

"So...it's having something to do and the time to do it in, then?" Laurie theorized, smiling as she seemed to be repeating what he just said. But, some things barred repeating. "When did you first take up smoking?"

"...uh." He had to actually think about that. "Around the time I joined the gang, I think. So I was... thirteen or fourteen?"

"Long time to have a habit then, it's probably why you find it so hard to give it up now, even if you were inclined to. Who gave you your first cigarette?" Laurie asked, curious as she pulled her legs into a crossways position, sitting yoga style on the large chair.

"Miguel", he said without hesitation this time. "I remember that. He'd got one from some older kid, an' we shared it."

"Miguel was a friend?"

She could feel the sun on her back from here, warm but not the harsh heat of summer. It felt good and she relaxed back into the chair, trying not to close her eyes.

"He was my best friend", Angelo told her, pulling his good leg up into his own chair. "He's in New York now - I helped him an' his sister out of some trouble in LA a few months back. But..." He shrugged. "Things change."

"Not everything though," Laurie replied with a smile, resisting the urge to steeple her fingers as she'd seen the Professor do from time to time.

"No, not everything", he echoed with a wary look at her, uncertain of exactly what she was getting at.

"You ever wonder if the reason you find it so hard to give up smoking is because it's a link to your friend?" Laurie asked bluntly.

She had no interest in making him give up smoking, she'd already made that clear but she was interested in knowing more about a teammate. She should probably not pry quite so much but she'd never been able to say no to a good opportunity for information.

Angelo said nothing for a minute or two, thinking that over. Then, slowly, "Not to him. He hasn't been my friend since the day I manifested, even if I see him more now. Maybe to how it was, though."

"The smell of peppermint," Laurie admitted, thinking about her Grandmother. Laurie had still been young when she died, not old enough to remember much but there was the image of a lady with white-grey hair, a smile and the smell of peppermint. "It always makes me feel safe. Something to do with my Grandmother, I think."

"Least yours is a good thing to hang onto", Angelo said quietly. "I know I didn't lose anythin' worth keepin' when I ran away, not that I didn't get back later. An' I wouldn't go back, but there's a lot I don't want to forget."

"We never forget the important things," Laurie stated, looking thoughtfully at the flowers arranged outside the large window. "Even if it's only a smell, or a habit. It's not such a bad way of being."

"'s about rememberin' who I was", Angelo said with a shrug. "'cause if I lose all of that, I don't know who I'd be."

She'd been up all night, trying to complete both the Biology and history paper to her satisfaction, that and the warm sunlight were a volatile mix, she was beginning to find it hard to stay awake.

"You'd be Angelo," she replied, voice somewhat fuzzy. "It's all you have to be."

He yawned, then looked surprised. "S'pose. But sometimes it's... too many changes at once."

"Preaching to the choir," Laurie responded, laying her head on her arm. "It's got to slow down sometime though, right?"

"You'd think", was the wry response as he leaned back a little in his chair, head against the back of it.

"I'm not sure," Laurie replied honestly, tone slightly dreamy with sleep. "But hope is never a bad thing."