Angelo and Forge; Angelo and Yvette

[x-skin.livejournal.com]

Angelo mourns Mark's death - on his own to start with, but then Forge comes to see what's up.



Angelo had never been close to Mark, the way the Snow Valley folks had. Still, the people they had in common, and scores of casual meetings at the brownstone or the office or at Silver, had added up to an easy friendship.

He was in his room, as he'd said, celebrating his own private wake with a bottle of whiskey.

Forge had been sitting in the common area of the suite, flipping through an electronics catalog when his nose twitched at the smell of the alcohol. Curious, he walked over to Angelo's room, nudging the door open and peering in. "Well, breaking out the strong stuff," he commented. "Drinking to forget?"

Angelo looked up at him, suddenly unsure if he'd seen the post. "Checked the journals in the last hour or so?" he asked quietly. "This is a wake."

"Isn't the point of a wake to be social?" Forge said, stepping in and pulling a chair around to sit facing Angelo. He picked up one of the empty glasses, turning it around in his fingers. "I'm assuming this is all for Mark, right? Or, well, that's the excuse."

"Snow Valley're havin' one over at Finnegans, but I'm not one of them", Angelo said with a shrug. "Figured I should leave them to it. You want to join in an' make it social, man, feel free."

Forge cocked his head in confusion. "Why?" he asked. "I recall the last time you thought someone was dead without seeing the body, it was me. And lo and behold, here I am. If Mark's alive, this is going to look pretty silly in retrospect. And if he's dead..." Forge shrugged, turning the glass upside-down on the small stool that was serving as a table. "If he's dead then getting drunk over it serves no purpose. Given the assumed circumstances... he was out doing what they do, and got in over his head, and got killed for it. If that's a reason to do anything, it's not to drink to his memory," he concluded, "it's to be better at your job than he was at his, and not wind up as a smear somewhere."

"This is different. You just disappeared, he got a buildin' brought down on his head an' they just didn't find him yet. I'll start with the bein' better at my job as of tomorrow, but this part's for tonight."

Forge pondered that, then shook his head and left the glass upside-down on the table as he stood up. "If that's your way," he said firmly. "I get the feeling you'll be going through a lot of whiskey in the years to come. Turning into a regular Nate, you are."

"People've said that", Angelo said wryly, something like laughter in his voice. "'s usually not a compliment. But stuff like this needs markin', when it happens."

"You're right," Forge said wryly, "it's not. As for the marking... there's something I've learned." He looked down at his knuckles, grimacing at the thought of another friend lost years ago, of hearing the news from Remy, of watching Amanda deal with the loss.

"The dead have one purpose," Forge said coldly. "Fuel. Chemically, a body's going to break down into usable elements and compounds. But to me? It's just one more reason to be better than that. Better than just being a name tossed around as a synonym for 'heroic sacrifice'. There's no such thing. There's just alive, and there's dead, and only one matters."

Angelo shrugged slightly. "See, I don't see it like that. Everybody dies, one way or another. Nobody deserves to be forgotten."

"There we agree," Forge said with a nod. "Look, I'm not saying he wasn't... I mean, he... he was a good guy. A lot of unrealized potential, and now..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, suddenly uncomfortable with the concept of grief when faced with how much Mark probably meant to those who knew him better. "I don't think any of us are going to forget him."

Angelo nodded. "Place isn't gonna be the same without him. Places - Silver, most, I think."

"They shouldn't be. None of us should be," Forge said, drawing himself up straight. "Look, um, I've got a thing..." he gestured awkwardly, then waved at the bottle of whiskey. "Have one for me, yeah?"

"Yeah", Angelo agreed with a tiny rueful smile. "I will. An' don't worry - this really isn't gonna be a habit. I hope."

Later, Yvette brings food to a somewhat drunk Angelo after he misses dinner, and hears the news.



It wasn't unusual for Angelo to miss dinner, however when Yvette couldn't find him in the office part of the boathouse, she became a little concerned. It was this concern that saw her tapping on the door of his suite, holding a covered-over plate in one hand. Perhaps he was studying and had lost track of time, as he sometimes did. She'd surprise him with some food, perhaps get him to take a break...?

The steps that came in response to the knock were heavier than usual, but that was the only sign of anything amiss until Angelo opened the door and squinted down at her. "Yvette? Hi."

"I brought you the dinner," she offered, holding up the plate as evidence. "I saw you did not have anything to eat. You have been working too hard again, yes?" She wrinkled her nose ever so slightly - Angelo smelt like her uncle did sometimes.

"I wasn't workin' tonight", he corrected. "But yeah, I should probably eat. Thanks."

"Oh." Yvette held up the plate so he could take it. "Is there something being wrong, if you do not mind me to ask? It is not the normal thing for you to be missing the meals if you are not working."

He reached down automatically to take it, considering his answer as carefully as he could right now. "Yeah, I, uh... got some bad news about a friend. Not the same friend from before."

"Oh, no." Yvette's eyes brightened in sympathy. "Is there being something I could do? To help you?"

"...you could stay here?" he suggested almost hopefully. He was done drinking, after all, having killed the bottle.

She blinked, having not expected that. "If you would like, yes, I can."

"Can't think of anythin' much else anyone could do to help. Is all."

She gave him a smile at that. "Perhaps then, you should be letting me in?"

"...oh. Yeah." He stood aside, moving back into the suite and letting her pass. "Thanks for the food."

Yvette glanced around, looking around for Joyita as she entered. Not because she didn't like dogs, but she didn't want Joyita being hurt in a fit of doggie enthusiasm. "It will be getting cold if you do not eat soon," she pointed out with a gentle hint. "And eating is easy to forget, when there is bad news. I like to be looking after people sometimes. Not such the same way as Laurie, but is good to be helping."

Joyita, fortunately, was dozing at the foot of the couch and didn't do more than beat her tail on the floor at the sound of Yvette's voice. "I won't let it get cold", Angelo promised. "C'mon, sit down."

She took a perch at one end of the couch, giving Joyita a little wave of long, gloved fingers. She waited until Angelo had sat before speaking again, not wanting to interrupt his meal. "Are you... would it be helping if you were talking about things?"

He didn't answer for a few moments, eating and thinking. Finally, "Maybe, for this. I don't know. Did you know Mark, from Silver?"

"Not so well, only from the journals. He is the one with the post-it note, to remind him what he can and cannot say?" she asked, the glow of her eyes dimming a little as she realised Mark was the one the bad news was about. She didn't know him, but she was amused by some of the things he said.

"That's him", Angelo said quietly. "He... had an accident. He isn't goin' to be on the journals anymore."

She went still. "He is... dead?" she asked in a small voice.

"It's lookin' like it", he confirmed. "There was... somethin' happened, an' a telepath couldn't find him, nor could a location spell. He's gone."

"Oh." It was a soft, sad sound and Yvette shifted a little closer to him, closer than her usual 'safety zone'. "And how are his friends? You?" She knew Mark had been close with the other people at the mysterious "Snow Valley" place.

"Mournin'", he said simply. "They're together tonight, all of them. But after this... life goes on." That sounded very tired.

She hesitated, then carefully lay her hand on his forearm. "Yes, it does," she replied. "But it does not mean that you must forget him, or not feel sad. He was the friend, and to lose a friend is the hard thing."

"He was a hard person to forget", Angelo said with a faint smile. "An' I'm goin' to be in the places he went to as much as I ever was. Don't think I'll be forgettin' about him anytime soon."

Comments

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

"They're together tonight, all of them. But after this... life goes on."

I think this line is the one that got me. Awesome work, guys. All round. I love Forge's reaction to the news versus Yvette's.