xp_logs | Angelo and Emma, last week after he got out of the medlab

Angelo, having been let out of the medlab, has decided to visit the parts of the mansion he hadn't really explored yet - starting with the garage. This has quickly turned into an investigation of the cars there, and he is currently leaning over the open hood of a classic Jaguar, studying its workings intently.

At that point, to his great misfortune, the Jaguar's owner happens to stop in. Emma stands at the garage entrance, head-to-toe in white Karl Lagerfeld, and crosses her arms impatiently. "Is this going to cost me anything, Mr Espinosa?" Emma asks archly.

Angelo hears the footsteps stop in the doorway, and peers cautiously over the Jaguar's raised hood, before straightening up sharply. "Er. Miss Frost. Hey. I'm just lookin' at it!"

"Of course you are, dear. I expect the hood just popped all by itself. Maybe my car is a mutant?" Emma steps closer, pulling the keys from her purse. "Feeling better, are we dear? Feeling bold?"

Angelo looks at her warily. "I didn't do anythin' to it", he says defensively. "Just wanted a look."

"I should think so too. I don't think you have anything worth seizing through the courts, after all. I've never wanted to own a barrio." Emma gestures to Angelo to back away from the car, then she activates the central locking and heads toward the trunk.

Angelo backs hastily away from the car, still watching her warily. "Wasn't gonna do anythin' to it, either", he mutters sullenly.

Emma smiles at his childishness. "Oh, Angelo, don't be so petulant. You have a fondness for cars, do you dear?"

Angelo raises his head, surprised by the lack of anger in her tone. "Yeah. Used to... uh... play with them back home."

"Other people's cars?" Emma smirks. "Plus ca change. Do you drive, Mr Espinosa? I'm sure you can, but are you supposed to?"

Angelo blinks at her, unsure what the right answer is. "...No. Didn't have money to waste on lessons, an' I wasn't much one for school, when I wasn't livin' in one."

"Think you could pass a test? We should look into that. If you get a license, I'll let you take her for a spin." Emma pops open the trunk and pulls out a small brown paper bag, which she pops into her purse.

Angelo's eyes widen. "For real?"

"Would I lie to you?" Emma places a hand on her hip and flutters her eyelashes. "It's wonderfully relaxing, tearing through these country lanes at 100 miles per hour. And you do seem like you need to blow off some steam."

"That'd be great", Angelo tells her, heartfelt gratitude in his voice. "An'... yeah. I could do with gettin' out of here sometimes. Just for a while."

"I can tell," Emma nods. She reaches back into the trunk and pulls out a cardboard box full of books, then closes the trunk and rests the box on top. "You've been making quite a noise lately. Feeling threatened in the nest, are we dear?"

Angelo eyes her mistrustfully, not certain he's not being laughed at. "Don't tell me you're surprised. 'M not the only one, either."

"Don't give me that look, Angelo. I'm the one with the Jaguar," she says tiredly. "Anyway, I agree with you. It's not safe here. I don't pretend that it is. We're targets. But you're targets anywhere you go, and at least here you have a chance to fight back. And people to watch your back."

"I've got a chance, yeah", he says quietly. "I know how. Not all of 'em do. And those who do can't be watchin' everybody else's back at once..."

Emma sighs. "Well, we're all doomed from birth anyway. What's your suggestion, dear?"

Angelo frowns. "You already heard all about it, I'm sure. An' they won't let me."

Emma reaches into her purse for the brown paper bag and sets it down on top of the car, then pulls out a bullet. "Have you ever hit anyone with one of these, Angelo?" she asks, tossing him the bullet.

Angelo catches the bullet instinctively, then looks into his open hand and blinks when he sees what it is. "Yes", he answers simply, without a smile, knowing that was the answer she'd probably been expecting, and suspecting it would do him no good to lie.

"And did you ever kill a man? Or woman?" she asks coolly.

"Yes", he tells her, still with no trace of a smile. "Men. And boys."

Though there's nothing to show it in Emma's face, she looks over the student with greater consideration, wondering whether he's a killer by accident or by nature. "They say you should never aim a gun unless you're prepared to kill," Emma observes. "You've killed, little soldier. And now you want to bring a gun into this school to make it 'safe'?"

Angelo looks at her carefully, gauging the intent behind her words. "No. I want to give the kids whatever they need to make them feel safer. I know this place ain't safe, and probably not gonna be, completely, anytime soon - but that doesn't mean they shouldn't feel that way. Shootin' lessons was only a part of what I was offerin', anyway - even if I was gonna be allowed to."

"Which you almost certainly won't," Emma notes. "Honestly, Angelo, we have dangerous mutants here who can't use their powers, and you want to give them one more way to kill each other? Do you really think that's sensible? You can use a gun, I realise that. But Marie-Ange? Doug? Honestly, would you trust Clarice with a gun?"

Angelo shrugs, looking suddenly defeated and unhappy. "It was only a suggestion..."

Emma sighs and shakes her head. "I know, dear," she says in a soothing tone. "But what was it really in aid of? Was it really about security, Angelo? Or are you looking to distinguish yourself?"

Angelo frowns, head still bowed, thinking about that. "I want them to be safe. To feel safe. Just wanted to do what I can to help. 's not much, I know..."

"And your powers don't really compare to someone like Piotr, Shiro, or Lorna, do they, dear? So you have to look to what you can do. Like, shooting people." She looks at him coolly, making it impossible to tell whether she's being mocking or sympathetic.

Angelo nods reluctantly, aware of how that sounds. "'s what I know. It was a stupid idea anyway, they were never gonna let me."

Emma shrugs very slightly, then turns and goes back for her box of books. "No, they never were," she agrees, her back turned. "Really, darling, you might as well have not asked."

Angelo shrugs and proceeds to completely contradict himself. "It was worth a shot."

Emma turns back, a smile gleaming in her eyes more than on her lips. She's set the packet of bullets down on top of the car, but she seems to have forgotten it's there.

"No, really, Angelo. You might as well have not asked," she insists. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should take these to the classroom."

Angelo nods. "Yeah. Should probably get back inside too."

"Well, let's not walk in together. People will gossip." Emma winks, then turns and heads back into the school. "Be good, Angelo," she calls back. "And if you can't be good, be discreet."

Angelo spots the package on top of the car as she walks away and heads over there, frowning. "Hey, Ms. Frost, you forgot your... bullets..." His head snaps up and he stares at her retreating back, eyes wide.

It's too late. Emma pulls the garage door shut behind her. Apparently, she didn't hear him.

Angelo, starting to understand as he puts this apparent accident together with her last words, grins slowly and pockets the bullets. He'll return them to her later, he tells himself. Maybe.