xp_logs | [Marie, Angelo] Once, you asked me to be the one to kill you.

Marie and Angelo revisit their previous discussion, only not in so many words. Some things you don't unsay. And then they move on to other topics like home and understanding.

Angelo was in the medlab, avoiding people. This was more because he was afraid of losing his temper than anything, and because he didn't want to cause any more kerfuffles. If anyone wanted to see him, they knew where to look...

"Hey, Skin." Marie stood in the open door to Angelo's room, looking tired and pale but better than the day before. "Can I come in?"

Angelo glanced up and half-smiled. "Course you can. Any time, I said, an' I meant it."

"Thanks for being there yesterday." She came in and closed the door behind her. "It helped, a lot."

Angelo nodded. "No problem. Glad I could help."

"Look, what I said..." Marie sat down on the bed, looking at her hands. "I didn't mean to put that on you. Or... I mean. I know what it is to say that and I don't want it to weigh on you."

Angelo looked at her seriously. "I know why you said it, an' I know you meant it. So did I."

"Are you okay?" she finally looked up at him through her bangs.

Angelo sighed. "Kinda. It's been a crazy couple of months, y'know?"

"I understand." Marie sighed heavily and put her face in her hands, then looked up at Angelo again after a moment. "Anything you need that I can do to help smooth it out?"

Angelo looked at her, unsmiling. "Don't know. Just be around, I guess..."

"Well, I don't have a lot of other places to be," she said seriously, holding out her arms and offering Angelo a hug. "Besides, my friends are all here."

Angelo got up and moved into her arms, letting his head drop to her shoulder. "Good. Well, not good, I guess, but... you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know." Marie rubbed his back with one hand. "We'll be okay. I have to have faith. And if... if anything happens, if I do have to go, I'll try not to go too far."

Angelo nodded. "Long as you don't just disappear on us, it'll be okay."

"I'll do my best," she promised, resting her cheek on his hair. "I feel like crap for blowing a fuse last night. I guess it was due, though."

"Everybody's gotta do that sometimes", Angelo reassured her quietly. "You'd go crazy if you didn't."

"Well, that's why I /don't/," Marie said with a little humour in her voice. "Have to keep it all in line, you know? But, I suppose the journal's better than tearing out a wall or something."

Angelo nodded. "People'd understand, you know? Some of 'em, anyway. An' if you're not sure of the others, there's Logan, an' there's me."

"I know." Marie sighed heavily. "I just wish people understood /him/. But, then again, maybe they do. It's hard for me to tell."

Angelo shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. For what it's worth, I think I'm startin' to."

"That's something. I think Sarah does a little too." Marie gave Angelo a bit of a tighter hug. "Maybe we should move downstairs too, to join the monsters."

Angelo laughed, letting his arms slide around her to return the hug. "Think they'd run out of space pretty quick. That room of theirs isn't that big."

"...Cain could have the house all to himself, though," Marie said thoughtfully, and then giggled.

Angelo smiled, glad to see her amused. "He'd like that."

"Yeah, he would, I'm sure." Marie's smile faded as fast as it had come. "I can sympathize with this being his house, though. I just don't know... it's weird that it doesn't feel like it's ours anymore. I used to feel really at home and now I feel like I'm living in a hotel."

Angelo shrugged. "Can't say it ever felt like it was mine. A good place to stay for awhile and good people to share it with, nothin' else."

"People are home anyway. Not places. I'm learning that."

Angelo nodded. "Sounds about right, yeah. I'm not sure I wouldn't have been out of here by now if it wasn't for some of the people."

"Me too. I figure the day I can go see Charles and tell him to his face I'm leaving is the day I'm ready to go. I've not had the nerve yet, so here I am," Marie said with a deep sigh. "I'd hate to leave him and Scott."

"Do you want that day to come?" Angelo asked seriously. "For real?"

"Some days I do. Some days I think 'this is it'. And I think that maybe that means it might be best for me, you know?" Marie bit her lip, looking serious and worried. "I don't like how angry I am some days."

Angelo nodded. "Been there", he said softly. "You ever need company on the road, an' it can't be Logan for some reason, you just come find me. Long as you're not goin' for good, that is."

"Thanks." Marie gave Angelo a smile. "I'll remember that. If you ever want to get out of here for a while, you let me know?"

He nodded again. "Will do. God knows it feels like a good idea sometimes."

Marie grinned. "Maybe I should make some standing reservations somewhere so we can take turns running away."

Angelo smiled, remembering something. "You know... Dr. Samson gave me somewhere. A place in the city, a respite place. I can give you the number if you want."

Marie looked genuinely interested. "That might be good."

"Got the card around here someplace. He said just to tell them I was a client of his, and they'd fix me up a room till I was ready to come back."

"Thanks, Angelo. I guess... I don't know." Marie scowled a little. "Am I doing the right thing by being here?"

Angelo looked at her seriously. "I'd say so, an' I'm not the only one. But in the end, that's up to you."

"Thanks." Marie hugged him again and then let him go. "I guess I needed to hear it from someone not in my head." Her smile was back, though not as deep as usual. "You want some company for a little while?"

Angelo nodded with a grateful smile. "Always."

"Excellent." Marie looked over to the bedside table. "Still have those cards I brought last week?"