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xp_logsAngelo arrives and a decision is made.
The afternoon was warm and sunny, bees buzzing in the herbs that had been planted in long boxes along the back verandah. From her seat, Amanda could see the waves crashing on the beach, the water an almost impossible blue that matched the sky. A bottle of wine, two glasses and a notepad sat before her on the rough wooden table and she paused to sip from a half-full glass before dropping her attention back to the paper in front of her. She was so intent on what she was doing, she didn't even register movement near the back gate.
It creaked, but only slightly, and Angelo stood unmoving just to watch her for a while. Finally, reluctantly, hating to disturb her, he spoke. "Hey there, querida."
If there was one disturbance she'd never mind, it was him. Looking up, she smiled and got to her feet in one fluid movement. "Hey, yourself, love." The dark circles under her eyes were fading, and there was a certain brightness to her face, a liveliness of expression, that had been lacking. "So you found it okay, then?"
It was good to see her looking so much better, and something in him relaxed as he started towards her. "Yeah, once I got to town, there were plenty of people t'point me the right way. Nice place."
"It is. They've been really looking after me and all." She wrapped her arms around his neck as she reached him, pushing herself up on her toes to kiss him firmly. "You look tired."
"Yeah, there was an Elpis mission in Kyrgyzstan" he told her, arms going round her in turn. "Went kind of... weird. Glad someone's been lookin' after you."
"An Elpis mission went wrong? Seriously?" she asked, eyes wide in mock-surprise. She laughed then and kissed him again. "No-one broken?" She didn't think so - he didn't looked stressed enough for that.
"No one broken", he confirmed. "A dog bit Monet, but you know it'd take more than that to break her."
"Poor dog." She unwrapped her arms from around his neck and took his hand, tugging him gently towards the verandah. "Come and sit. Ameile's making dinner tonight, but there's some nibbly stuff if you're hungry."
"Airline food." He pulled a face, letting himself be tugged quite willingly. "I could eat real food."
She laughed again at that, directing over to the verandah and a chair, before pouring him a glass of wine. "Just be a sec," she told him, kissing him briefly on the forehead as she leaned over to pass him the glass before vanishing into the house, bare feet soundless on the worn stone floor.
Angelo settled into the chair, turning as he took a drink of the wine to look at the surroundings. To the back of the house, he realized, was a beach no more than a few steps away, on the other side of a hedge. He stared out at the sea for a moment, lost in thought. This house wasn't the one from his "dream", but the perfection of that had never been about where it was...
"Penny for your thoughts?" came Amanda's voice long moments later as she returned, carrying a tray. There was bread, several cheeses, a small bowl of olives and a plate with slices of home-cured ham on it. She set the tray down, looking at him with gentle amusement. "You were miles away."
He smiled up at her, albeit a little wistfully, and reached for an olive. "Nah, I was somewhere that's never gonna exist. Part of that whole thing on the trip."
"I sorta know what you mean." She sat down opposite him, tearing off a piece of bread and pulling fragments off to pop in her mouth. "What happened?"
"You remember that guy Glorian, that sent you all into a dreamworld?"
She nodded, a small frown appearing. "The whole 'world without mutants' thing, yeah."
"It was like that." He looked at her carefully. "Only it was a 'perfect world' thing."
Amanda went still, pausing in the action of cutting off a piece of cheese. "Ah," she said, then laid down the knife and sat back, concern warring with something else in her face. "I'm guessing 'prefect' means pretty much impossible, yeah?"
Angelo took a deep drink of his wine, swallowing deliberately before he answered. "Yeah", he said simply. "Miguel an' Alejandra were okay, folks were there I'm never gonna see again, an'... Dad was alive."
She winced. "Oh, love, I'm sorry. That's just... it's downright cruel, doing something like that to someone." She reached over to touch the back of his arm. "You doing okay?"
"It would've changed so much", he said quietly. "If he'd lived. I'd've been so much better, those years. Not with the gangs, not half-crazy, an'... I was still a mutant, though. I wouldn't've come to New York an' met everybody here if I hadn't been."
"The problem with those sorts of thoughts, there's a lot of 'might have beens' that mean other things would never have happened." Amanda's voice was gentle, though. "'S what I've been thinking about, being here. Remy left me the chance of a whole different life, everything set up. All I need to do is take it."
He looked up at her, eyes guarded but somehow calm. "'s good to have a way out of the life. You gonna take it now?"
"Would you want me to?" she responded, her hand not leaving his arm. "After this last trip... it might not be the perfect world you had, but it doesn't mean we can't have something close."
"I could live with close." His smile was warm, but the vision was still behind his eyes. "An' everybody would understand if I stayed. I could still do the correspondence classes, do Elpis work based here..."
"I could become part of the occult network, offer the research stuff without the field work. Maybe even look at settling down properly one day." She tightened her hand on his arm, then released it to turn and look over at the ocean. "Except... it wouldn't be me. Wouldn't be either of us, would it?"
"It could be", he answered softly. "Someday, if we wanted it. You don't have to give it up forever if we go back to America this time, do you?"
"No. The place'll be here and waiting for us, whenever we decide." She turned back to him. "That's what I've been thinking about, ever since I left. Wondering if I can hack things any more, if the Trenchcoats is what I want." She looked a little sheepish. "I haven't done a lick of magic since London."
Angelo reached out to draw her towards him, hearing that. "The day you decide you don't want it, you can't hack it, whatever, you know I'll be there. I can do what I do wherever I am, just not in the team. An' if you settle down, I want to be with you."
She went willingly, winding up on his lap. "I know, love. That's one of the reasons I knew it'd be okay." Resting her head against his, she nuzzled his neck with her nose briefly. "Made it easier to decide."
"Nothin' says we can't use the place for vacations, too", he pointed out. "Be a shame to waste it." He closed his eyes, leaning against her.
"It won't be wasted. One day, we'll be here." She snapped her fingers lightly, conjuring George the werelight, who immediately whirled around the rafters like a puppy let off the leash. "Just not yet."
"An' we'll get married", he murmured, half-drowsing, smiling against her neck. "We should go see Jimaine."
The movement of his lips against her neck tingled and she nestled closer. "I can call her, if you like. See where the clan's at."
"Do it", he decided. "Been puttin' the thing off long enough."
"Ooh, you know I like it when you're all decisive," she teased, shifting so she could kiss him. "So, back home via Germany. I'll call Jimi after dinner." She grinned. "So, how tired, are you?"
He opened his eyes at that, lazily, and looked straight into hers. "Not tired enough I could ever resist you."
The afternoon was warm and sunny, bees buzzing in the herbs that had been planted in long boxes along the back verandah. From her seat, Amanda could see the waves crashing on the beach, the water an almost impossible blue that matched the sky. A bottle of wine, two glasses and a notepad sat before her on the rough wooden table and she paused to sip from a half-full glass before dropping her attention back to the paper in front of her. She was so intent on what she was doing, she didn't even register movement near the back gate.
It creaked, but only slightly, and Angelo stood unmoving just to watch her for a while. Finally, reluctantly, hating to disturb her, he spoke. "Hey there, querida."
If there was one disturbance she'd never mind, it was him. Looking up, she smiled and got to her feet in one fluid movement. "Hey, yourself, love." The dark circles under her eyes were fading, and there was a certain brightness to her face, a liveliness of expression, that had been lacking. "So you found it okay, then?"
It was good to see her looking so much better, and something in him relaxed as he started towards her. "Yeah, once I got to town, there were plenty of people t'point me the right way. Nice place."
"It is. They've been really looking after me and all." She wrapped her arms around his neck as she reached him, pushing herself up on her toes to kiss him firmly. "You look tired."
"Yeah, there was an Elpis mission in Kyrgyzstan" he told her, arms going round her in turn. "Went kind of... weird. Glad someone's been lookin' after you."
"An Elpis mission went wrong? Seriously?" she asked, eyes wide in mock-surprise. She laughed then and kissed him again. "No-one broken?" She didn't think so - he didn't looked stressed enough for that.
"No one broken", he confirmed. "A dog bit Monet, but you know it'd take more than that to break her."
"Poor dog." She unwrapped her arms from around his neck and took his hand, tugging him gently towards the verandah. "Come and sit. Ameile's making dinner tonight, but there's some nibbly stuff if you're hungry."
"Airline food." He pulled a face, letting himself be tugged quite willingly. "I could eat real food."
She laughed again at that, directing over to the verandah and a chair, before pouring him a glass of wine. "Just be a sec," she told him, kissing him briefly on the forehead as she leaned over to pass him the glass before vanishing into the house, bare feet soundless on the worn stone floor.
Angelo settled into the chair, turning as he took a drink of the wine to look at the surroundings. To the back of the house, he realized, was a beach no more than a few steps away, on the other side of a hedge. He stared out at the sea for a moment, lost in thought. This house wasn't the one from his "dream", but the perfection of that had never been about where it was...
"Penny for your thoughts?" came Amanda's voice long moments later as she returned, carrying a tray. There was bread, several cheeses, a small bowl of olives and a plate with slices of home-cured ham on it. She set the tray down, looking at him with gentle amusement. "You were miles away."
He smiled up at her, albeit a little wistfully, and reached for an olive. "Nah, I was somewhere that's never gonna exist. Part of that whole thing on the trip."
"I sorta know what you mean." She sat down opposite him, tearing off a piece of bread and pulling fragments off to pop in her mouth. "What happened?"
"You remember that guy Glorian, that sent you all into a dreamworld?"
She nodded, a small frown appearing. "The whole 'world without mutants' thing, yeah."
"It was like that." He looked at her carefully. "Only it was a 'perfect world' thing."
Amanda went still, pausing in the action of cutting off a piece of cheese. "Ah," she said, then laid down the knife and sat back, concern warring with something else in her face. "I'm guessing 'prefect' means pretty much impossible, yeah?"
Angelo took a deep drink of his wine, swallowing deliberately before he answered. "Yeah", he said simply. "Miguel an' Alejandra were okay, folks were there I'm never gonna see again, an'... Dad was alive."
She winced. "Oh, love, I'm sorry. That's just... it's downright cruel, doing something like that to someone." She reached over to touch the back of his arm. "You doing okay?"
"It would've changed so much", he said quietly. "If he'd lived. I'd've been so much better, those years. Not with the gangs, not half-crazy, an'... I was still a mutant, though. I wouldn't've come to New York an' met everybody here if I hadn't been."
"The problem with those sorts of thoughts, there's a lot of 'might have beens' that mean other things would never have happened." Amanda's voice was gentle, though. "'S what I've been thinking about, being here. Remy left me the chance of a whole different life, everything set up. All I need to do is take it."
He looked up at her, eyes guarded but somehow calm. "'s good to have a way out of the life. You gonna take it now?"
"Would you want me to?" she responded, her hand not leaving his arm. "After this last trip... it might not be the perfect world you had, but it doesn't mean we can't have something close."
"I could live with close." His smile was warm, but the vision was still behind his eyes. "An' everybody would understand if I stayed. I could still do the correspondence classes, do Elpis work based here..."
"I could become part of the occult network, offer the research stuff without the field work. Maybe even look at settling down properly one day." She tightened her hand on his arm, then released it to turn and look over at the ocean. "Except... it wouldn't be me. Wouldn't be either of us, would it?"
"It could be", he answered softly. "Someday, if we wanted it. You don't have to give it up forever if we go back to America this time, do you?"
"No. The place'll be here and waiting for us, whenever we decide." She turned back to him. "That's what I've been thinking about, ever since I left. Wondering if I can hack things any more, if the Trenchcoats is what I want." She looked a little sheepish. "I haven't done a lick of magic since London."
Angelo reached out to draw her towards him, hearing that. "The day you decide you don't want it, you can't hack it, whatever, you know I'll be there. I can do what I do wherever I am, just not in the team. An' if you settle down, I want to be with you."
She went willingly, winding up on his lap. "I know, love. That's one of the reasons I knew it'd be okay." Resting her head against his, she nuzzled his neck with her nose briefly. "Made it easier to decide."
"Nothin' says we can't use the place for vacations, too", he pointed out. "Be a shame to waste it." He closed his eyes, leaning against her.
"It won't be wasted. One day, we'll be here." She snapped her fingers lightly, conjuring George the werelight, who immediately whirled around the rafters like a puppy let off the leash. "Just not yet."
"An' we'll get married", he murmured, half-drowsing, smiling against her neck. "We should go see Jimaine."
The movement of his lips against her neck tingled and she nestled closer. "I can call her, if you like. See where the clan's at."
"Do it", he decided. "Been puttin' the thing off long enough."
"Ooh, you know I like it when you're all decisive," she teased, shifting so she could kiss him. "So, back home via Germany. I'll call Jimi after dinner." She grinned. "So, how tired, are you?"
He opened his eyes at that, lazily, and looked straight into hers. "Not tired enough I could ever resist you."
