It's not as if this barricade blocks the only road

[x-tarot.livejournal.com]

Angelo meets Angie outside Jamie and Doug's room, early this afternoon, but after the next log. Which I have posted out of order. Gah.




Angelo walked along the corridor quietly, heading for Doug's room. While trying as best he could to control his temper, he was on a slow burn after his conversation with Marie, and hoped getting Doug's side of things would help - if he could just keep from losing it for long enough...
Marie-Ange had just slipped out of the boys' room, intent on raiding the student lounge's minifridge for more soda, and perhaps a video game that somewhat less complicated than the one with the funny green monsters. Doug's mood was stabilizing, but her protective instincts were still high.

Angelo spotted her before she saw him. "Marie-Ange", he said neutrally. "Hey."
At the sound of Angelo's voice, Marie-Ange looked up, tensed, then jammed one hand in her pocket. "Hey. " She said, trying - but failing - to hide the fatigue in her voice.

Angelo nodded a further greeting. "What's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
With her free hand, Marie-Ange pointed towards the door to Jamie and Doug's room. "Soda run. There wasn't much sleep happening last night." The other hand twitched in her pocket slightly.

Angelo nodded. "He's in there, then?" he asked, deceptively quietly, still fighting for control. Don't lose it on her or you'll never get in there...

Marie-Ange's fingers snapped onto the card jammed into her pocket, as she answered, tightly. "Yes, with Jamie. We're keeping him from the computer."

Another nod. "Can I go in?" he asked mildly.

Marie-Ange's eyebrow twitched, along with her nostrils. "I'm not sure that's the best idea right now. Doug's not fit for human company. He's kind of a mess."

"Right. He's not the only one", Angelo replied, the first traces of anger creeping into his voice, despite his best efforts.

Inside Marie-Ange's pocket, her hand closed in a vice-like grip. "And anything that needs to be said is going to have to wait until I am sure Doug won't do something exceptionally stupid." She pulled her fist from her pocket, revealing a half crumpled card of some kind.

Angelo glanced down and shrugged. "Yeah. Well. I need to talk to him. Stay if you want."

"Angelo, you are not going in there. Not if you are angry." Marie-Ange backed up a few steps, her eyes suddenly cold, the tiredness having been replaced with determination.

Angelo laughed bitterly. "Angry? You have no idea. Do you know where I spent most of yesterday afternoon, Marie-Ange? Do you know what I was doin'?"

Marie-Ange shook her head. "No, but if it was anything like what I have spent the last day doing, I understand. Only, you are still not going in there to. Not without going through me." She glanced at the card in her hand, then met Angelo's face, practically challenging him.

Angelo glared back at her, before responding in cold fury. "Well, how about I tell you. I spent yesterday afternoon watchin' Marie - Marie, one of the toughest people I know - cry herself to sleep in my arms. An' listenin' to her get so terrified of bein' controlled like that again she made me promise to kill her if it ever happens an' she can't be brought back. How 'bout you?"

For a moment, all Marie-Ange could do was stare at her fist, anger fueling her new abilities. Behind her, the door to Jamie and Doug's room was slowly covered with a wall of thick bark, matching the picture on the crumpled card in her hand. "I just spent all night making sure Doug couldn't leave, or try to suicide," she spat. "and telling him he was not slime. You will not undo what I have worked to start fixing."

Angelo turned to stare at what she'd done to the door, then turned slowly back to her. "I never had any intention of doin' that", he informed her coldly. "I just wanted to talk to him, get his side of things - you could even've stayed an' kicked me out anytime you felt like it. But no, couldn't have that, could you?"

"Not now, no. Doug wants everyone to hate him, Angelo. He is not in a state to explain anything. Every question you have can be brought to Alison, or Jamie, or myself. " Marie-Ange's voice was unnaturally calm, though her hands shook. "I would have to ask you to leave so quickly that it is not worth it to let you go in. You are too angry."

Angelo nodded, forcing his expression to blankness. "Fine. Can you tell me why the hell Doug didn't get rid of that damn potion as soon as he knew he wasn't gonna use it? Which I'm assumin' was straight away?"

Marie-Ange's shoulders dropped, tiredly. "He.. said something about thinking it would get into the water. Angelo, he's not making a lot of sense about some things right now." She shoved the crushed card back into her pocket, and let her hand fall. "I don't think he really thought it would work. Magic? Love potions? It sounds so unbelievable."

"It's not", he assured her quietly. "I'm up an' walkin' around now 'cause of Amanda's magic. I thought everyone knew that..."

"It is .. harder to believe in it when you have not seen it." Marie-Ange slumped leaning against the wall. "Too many things that are not supposed to be real here, you can only believe in so many at once."

Angelo nodded, suddenly weary. "S'pose so, yeah."

Marie-Ange sat down, bringing her knees to her chest, and leaning her back against the simulacrum of wood against the wall. "I do not know who did this. I do know that Doug's only mistake was in thinking that he could wait to find out how to get rid of the potion safely."

Angelo leaned heavily against the wall, drained of his energy along with his anger. "Yeah", he said flatly. "Turned out to be a pretty big mistake, though."

A grimace, though not a truly nasty one, twisted Marie-Ange's mouth. "Doug isn't a precognitive. How could he have known?"

Angelo shrugged, before realizing what she might be getting at. "Tell me you didn't dream about this", he said, vaguely amused.

"No. Nono." Marie-Ange shook her head violently. "No dreams about this." She put a very slight emphasis on the word 'dreams'.

Angelo glanced over at her, catching the emphasis. "Did I hear a "but" in there?"

She thudded the back of her head against the not-bark. "I tried something, a tarot card reading, for Doug some weeks ago, but it made no sense then. It doesn't make sense now either though." Marie-Ange frowned. "Once Doug is a little more stable, I plan to talk to Doctor MacTaggart. "

Angelo nodded. "Might be an idea, yeah. About your powers?"

"About the reading, mostly. About my powers. About this entire stupid month, and what its doing to my head." She made a fist, digging her fingernails into her palm. "Just .. I am just tired of all this craziness."

Angelo grinned wryly. "Tell me about it. Never seems to stop, round here." He let himself slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, legs straight out in front of him.

Marie-Ange nodded her head in agreement. "I think, after this, I'm taking up smoking." She grinned, sounding only slightly serious. "All the people who smoke seem to have come out of this sane."

Angelo tipped his head sideways to look at her wryly. "Don't know about that." He produced a pack from his pocket, waving it in her general direction. "If you were serious, you only have to ask."

"No.. I am not sure it is that crazy. Yet." She shook her head, smiling. "Any more .. though, and I may take you up on that."

Angelo laughed. "The offer stands. But don't tell the faculty, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't like it."

The bark covering the door started to dissolve around the edges, melting into a brownish-grey fog. "If I .. let this go, you aren't going to try to go in there, are you?" Marie-Ange asked, tentatively.

Angelo tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling. "Depends. Probably not, though."

"Okay. Good, because this is about as long as I can hold it." The image melted away, and Marie-Ange sat forward, to keep from slipping backwards.

Angelo glanced over at her, something occurring to him. "Never seen you do that before. Is that new?"

"Yes. It was.. kind of an emergency back-up last night. Doug tried to run." She shrugged. "I wasn't sure if I could do it again.. "

Angelo nodded. "Looks like you can. Somethin' to tell Dr. MacTaggart."

"Absolutely," she said, standing and leaning against the doorjamb. "As soon as all this is over, like I said."

Another nod. "When's your shift finish?" he asked, guessing at the system they'd worked out.

Marie-Ange closed her eyes, doing some mental calculations. "Probably later this evening. It is hard to really say. I stayed through my last one, because I could not sleep."

Angelo looked worried, hearing that. "How long's that been goin' on for?"

Marie-Ange spread her hands in a gesture of futility. "Months. But this week? Only last night. It is part of the damn power, they tell me, and that I will adapt."

Angelo nodded sympathetically. "Bad dreams suck", he said with a note of disgust in his voice.

"Yes. Oh, yes. They suck... so much. I don't have an amount for how much they suck." Marie-Ange nodded in total agreement, then tilted her head questioningly. "I .. should finish my errand. If.. I promise that as soon as Doug isn't a puddle of self-hating oatmeal, that I will let you know, will you wait?"

"Guess I'll have to", Angelo said softly. "You go. I won't go in there yet, promise."

"Thanks, Angelo. It helps, a lot." Marie-Ange met his eyes for a moment, then nodded and smiled, and headed to the kitchen.