Log: Cammie & Angelo

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Angelo takes Cammie out for the promised Mexican food and the two end up discussing more supernatural things.

Cammie didn't exactly have a bunch of unpacking to do. Which she supposed was good since this was a guest room until they put her up in something more permanent. But for the first time in three years, she completely emptied out her beat up bag, putting the things therein into piles. A couple of wrecked cds, a few t-shirts, wallets she'd have to ditch, an old photo, which was promptly put back in the bag and a clip with about sixty bucks. That summed up her worldly possessions, when you didn't count the laptop and the borrowed books and the phone she didn't know the number to.

She was going to need more clothes, but she knew that much. She braided her hair and started to wander around the guest room. Her nerves were still on her for trying this, but maybe it was time to try it. She supposed she would find out.

She'd left the door half-open, so Angelo didn't bother to knock, just called through the gap. "Hey, Cammie? Heard you were up an' about."

Cammie turned around, her eyes wide for a second. Outside the medlab, during the day, she was going to have to get use to people being around. Or stay on a nocturnal schedule. Either way she supposed, "Uh, hi. Yeah. I got the all clear so here I am. 'Least until they find me a suite, I guess," she said, with a general gesture around the guest room.

"Guest rooms are pretty nice", Angelo agreed with a cursory glance around in turn. "An' I think I promised you somethin' for when the doctors let you out."

"Oh yeah!" she said, with a clap of her hands, "Mexican food, right?" Cammie said. Of the other couple of offers of people trying to get her to eat 'real food' that was the only one that had any appeal to it, "Yeah, we can do that. And hopefully it is actually nice and hot," ie: nuclear or she wouldn't be able to taste it.

"I'll tell Mama Lupe to make it extra-special for you", he assured her. "You busy, or do you want to go now?"

"Well, since I obviously have so much planned for this exact moment," Cammie started then laughed and shook her head, "I've been stuck in one room for over a week, please, take me out. Take me and feed me food that would melt a lesser girl into slag."

"Then follow me." To the garage it was!

"Yessir," Cammie returned, rubbing her hands together and following him. Food she could taste without aid like Tabasco or poison. That would be good. "So, whaddya do here, anyway?"

"Teach self-defense at the Institute", he said casually. "But my real job's down in the boathouse, workin' for an NGO called Elpis - we help mutants in third-world countries."

Self defense, huh? She could take him, she thought after looking him over. Then again, she cheated and could take pretty much anyone and their mother with one hit. "Oh, I heard about that. The NGO bit anyway. That's neat."

She hadn't seen him in action with his powers, either. He grinned at the compliment. "Yeah, we think it is. Hard work, but it's worth it."

"Yeah, I'm sure. And I thought the blue chick taught self-defense," no, Morgan would not ever be called by her proper name by Cammie. She just had to wait until she could come up with some horrible nickname.

"She does. We share, except when one of us has to go away - like, she went to Africa, so I get the class on my own, an' same for her when I do business trips."

"Ah," Cammie said, "I get'ya. So where is this restaurant anyway." She was thinking a bit with her stomach now, "Self defense must be fun... after all, you get to beat people up in a way".

"New York City", he told her. "Hour's drive at most, less if the roads are clear. An' yeah, it's got its moments. Rewardin', too."

"I haven't to New York in ages," Cammie mused, "I liked Houston," the past tense on there emphasized. You could get good, real Mexican food in Houston. "Chicago is also a cool place, except in the winter."

"An' then it's too cold, huh?" He grinned crookedly. "Never did much like the cold - I'm from LA - but here I am."

"Heh, yeah. I don't like the cold either, but I'm from the North Eastern states," she didn't say where in, "So I don't really have an excuse. This is the farthest north I've been for the winter in a long time."

"I figured, from where they picked you up." He eyed her for a moment. "No goin' back to Texas for you, huh?"

"Texas can bite me," Cammie said. "I'm thinking I'll finally pick up that shirt I wanted. 'Don't mess with Texas, it's not nice to pick on retards.'" She quoted. If she had the money to spend on shirts anyway.

"Yeah, I ran into some trouble there a few months ago with the Firebug." He shrugged. "Turns out small-town Texans don't like mutants in their local bars."

"Houston is normally okay. But there's still parts of it you have to be careful in. I just got lucky. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it. But yeah, Texas blows," Cammie said with a nod, "I won't be going back. I have a thing against places that decide I need more holes in me."

"You gonna be stayin' up here, then?" he asked as they approached his car. "For the foreseeable future, I mean?"

"Yeah, I really don't have anywhere else to go. The runaway thing gets old," Cammie said and stopped and stared at his car. That car would fetch a lot of money in a chop shop, even just for parts. She then kicked the thief part of her brain and shook off the awe. People could have nice things. These people were generally not her and/or taking her out to lunch though.

"21st birthday present from my boss", he explained, noticing the stare. "I pretty much reacted like that when he showed it to me, too."

"That's... one hell of a birthday present," Cammie said shaking her head, "Yeah. Nice car." It was worth more than she was, that was for sure. "Reaaaaaly nice car. Hopefully you don't mind if it gets a little dirty from my drooling."

"I'm pretty sure she can take a bit of drool", he said, amused. "An' yeah, Nate's generous like that. I've been there with the runaway thing, so've a lot of people here, so no one's gonna be kickin' you out."

"Well, that's good to know. I don't think I've heard of a happy and well adjusted mutant with a great home life... I don't think that happens... well, except for Blondie. I mean, Crystal. I call her Blondie, and likely will the rest of my life."

"Got a few of the lucky ones here too", Angelo said with a shrug. "Crystal, her sister used to be here too, Angel an' Laurie get on pretty well with their parents... well, so do I, but things weren't always easy."

"Blondie's from the moon or something, the way her family is," Cammie quipped, "Mine... don't know. I haven't talked to them for years," Cammie admitted.

"Since you manifested?" he guessed quietly. "They kick you out?"

"No, they didn't know... well, they might have, but the whole thing's really complicated and I'd rather not talk about it. Mom and Dad are,, were, whatever, great, you know? Dense, behind in the times, crazy in their own special way, but they're cool people." It wasn't her parents she was worried about. Well, it was in a way, who would want to know they adopted a monster and a freak? But it had been her friends that drove her off.

"Then you had to go to keep them safe", he hazarded with a faint sad smile. "Been there, too. If you wanted, we could get in touch with them now."

"Kinda," she said then shook her head, "No, they don't need to know." It was better this way.

"If you're sure. But you might be surprised, if they did."

"I'm sure. Trust me, they likely heard everything they need to know from everyone else in town anyway," Cammie said. There weren't really kind and nice ways to explain that you could kill things. Over the last few years she had thought of randomly calling home, dropping a post card or something.

But it never seemed like the right thing to do.

Angelo nodded and let it drop, pulling out of the garage and onto the road.

For a couple of minutes, Cammie just listened to the car. The engine sounded like perfection underneath a hood, but it wouldn't beat a bike. If by some miracle she ever could, she'd get herself a bike. A nice one.

After a moment, she struck up conversation again, "So, this place is pretty crazy, or so I hear."

"Oh, you have no idea." He glanced over at her with a wicked grin. "Has anyone told you about the demon invasions yet?"

"Demon invasions?" Cammie returned, her tone one of total disbelief and her smirk read 'yeah right'. This girl didn't even believe in God. "You're kidding me, right?" She could buy the zombie story, because that was someone's mutation and could be explained normally. But the supernatural just made her laugh. And most of it could be explained away pretty easily, or so she found. The most evil force she had ever run across was not the devil, but just greedy and stupid people.

"Actual physical demons", he confirmed. "You'll learn to believe in magic, too - my girlfriend an' her sister are witches an' her sister isn't even a mutant. An' that's not even startin' on Illyana, Hell's Cheerleader."

"Because the Devil plays football," Cammie returned, shaking her head. "If you believe that's what you saw then whatever, but you know, there are people out there who are just as bad. And don't require a belief that the rabbit in the hat actually came from no where." In time, she might change her opinion (not likely) but for now, magic was something she didn't buy into. Like Scientology or one of those pyramid scam things it was all a load of bullshit.

"Not arguin' that", he said easily, "but demons are real. I've been to another dimension, brought back a sword from there, an' I wasn't alone - an' two of the three teleporters I know of go through others."

"Look, I wasn't here so I can't say what it was you saw or anything, but that's a bit too far out there for me to just buy. Congrats on the sword though. Something to show off at Dungeons and Dragons night, if you're into that sort of thing, I suppose," she returned with a grin.

"Can't say that's my style", he said, amused, "but it's good for sword drills. Besides, no one'd ever believe where I actually got it."

"Yeah, you'll have to work on your story there. Just say a Ren Fest or something," Cammie offered, "People are more likely to believe that."

"Yeah, they probably would", he agreed. "Don't worry, though, we haven't had a demon in years. But I'm sure somethin' just as crazy will come along soon."

"I'll sleep better at night knowing that super natural forces of evil aren't poised to invade at any moment," Cammie said back, chuckling a bit. Demons, maybe if she was five that would've bought that. Maybe.