Log: Jean and Angelo, Thursday Afternoon

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Jean and Angelo enjoy a nice catchup conversation about Angelo and his future in the garden.

The leaves were finally starting to turn the colors of fall, blushed with reds, lit with yellows, and washed with oranges. It was mid afternoon as Jean walked the grounds, headed for her garden. The flowers had all but started to wither away but remnants remained. She sat on one of the benches, listening to her iPod as she pulled out some papers to grade. The combination of the lightly crisp breeze with the sun on her skin a delightful combination.

Her foot tapped against the ground with the beat of the music as she scribbled in a straight line of X's down the page, shaking her head. "Someone didn't do the reading."


Excited barking interrupted her thoughts as Joyita, still a puppy at heart despite being well into adulthood, galloped into view and headed straight towards her.

The sound of barking didn't quite match up with The Fray's song, which made Jean glance up curiously and immediately start gathering her papers to prevent them from being muddied and crumpled up in the event the Joyita got a bit too friendly.

"Oh....hello sweetie. There's a good girl. No jumping okay?" she said with a laugh.

Normally she didn't mind animals too much, but being unable to return tests due to a dog destroying them would likely be amusing to the students who were used to the old cliche about a dog eating their homework. She'd probably see a rise in them using the excuse in the future.


The dog skidded to a halt at Jean's feet, cocking her head curiously at the papers but sitting and lifting a paw to shake just as Angelo rounded the corner. "Oh, hey, there you are. Afternoon, Doc Grey."

Jean grinned a bit at the dog, reaching out to shake Joyita's hand. "Pleased to meet you," she said, putting her stack of papers beside her.

"Hello Angelo," she said, her smile turning cordial.

The chance of a graduate returning were about 50/50. Some were eager to stay away, to make their mark on the world and part of how they believed they could do it was stay as far away from the school as possible to show their independence. While some stopped by so often the place was like a second home.

"Here for a visit?"


"Yeah, there's still plenty of folks here to see", he said easily, stroking the dog's head before he settled on the bench next to Jean. "An' Joyita likes the grounds more than Central Park."

Jean nodded. "That there are," she said.

"May I pet her?" she added, nodding toward Joyita.

Her time around Angelo had been very limited to the mundane things, save for a brief run in during "Jane's" reign. It made things somewhat awkward to her one on one. In the classroom, before his graduation, she didn't have to talk directly to him but rather just the students as a whole.


"Course you can." He grinned. "Good to see you back again, by the way."

Reaching out, Jean gently stroked Joyita's back, feeling the faint coarseness of her fur against her skin.

"Thanks. Good to be back."

She fell silent for a few moments, listening to some of the students playing basketball off in the distance. The sound of a thud followed by a somewhat pained, disgruntled 'aww!' echoed their way. Jean straightened, eyes taking a distant look as she played 'telephone' with the student for a moment and nodded in satisfaction that everything was okay before she turned back toward Angelo.

"How is your college coursework coming? Are you still taking classes?"


"Graduated my history and politics degree", he said proudly. "But yeah, I'm still studyin'. In law school now."

A bright grin lit up Jean's face. "Really? That's wonderful. So you're going to be a lawyer...wow, that's fantastic, Angelo. I'm really proud of you.You've come so far," she said.


"Hell of a long way from South Central", he agreed, returning the grin. "I've got it all worked out. Specializin' in human rights, mutant rights in particular."


Jean nodded. "You'll be a great asset to have. That area is sorely lacking so it'll be good to have more people like you around. I'm going to warn you, though, you'll probably face an uphill battle.

"For the most part unless we bash them on the head with the point, a lot of politicians, unless they're biased with anti-mutant views, tend to try to look the other way when it comes to mutant issues. They don't want to stir the pot with their constituents so they usually avoid the subject altogether, trying to 'stay neutral.'

"There's not much precedence when it comes to mutant crimes other than the predominantly negative in light of mutant terrorist activities. The judges are faced with an entirely different set of challenges than trying your run of the mill criminal," she said.

The law and politics were often held hand in hand. The politicians always wanted to hold mutants accountable in order to maintain so-called "order," but their idea of accountability was often considerably harsher than most regular criminals. It was a constant struggle for civility during political functions involving mutant issues, especially when the high-strung groups attended.

"But I'm sure you're already finding that out."


"Oh yeah." His smile turned a little wry. "Mutant law's a whole big area hardly anybody's even scratched the surface on. I think mostly what I want to do is underdog stuff, you know? Civil liberties, maybe some of defendin' kids like Kevin was that have bad manifestations..."


Jean nodded. "That's a good idea. Starting off small with a good foundation and a lot of little wins can often mean a lot more than one big win in the long run."

She smiled, shrugging.

"Even if a big win would be nice."

Often she only had little victories to keep her going down in Washington. It was better than nothing. Small steps.

She nodded again, another smile spreading across her face.. "I really am proud of you, Angelo."


"Yeah, kind of hopin' there'll be a big win once in a while as well as the little ones", he said with a nod. "An' thanks. I'm kind of proud of me too these days."


Jean laughed. "Good. Have you already started to amass a pile of suits for when work starts?" Yes, Angelo's odd shirt fetish was well known but she wasn't going to mention it, not quite yet.


"Suits, I've already got for the meetin's I have to go to for Elpis", he said, grinning. "But business clothes keep mysteriously showin' up in my apartment. I think John lets my mom in when I'm not there."


"Better your mom than some stalker," Jean mused.

"Speaking of clothing, I heard about Jean-Paul and the all-pink wardrobe," she added, unable to hide a light grin.


"Wouldn't put that past him either, if he thought it was funny", he said easily, not really meaning it. "An' yeah, I thought a makeover'd be good for him. He got me back, now it's my move. Just workin' on a good one."

Jean nodded thoughtfully. "How'd he get you back?" She wasn't above the occasional gossip and/or bit of news. It kept her current on events.


"Wrapped up my desk and every single individual thing on it."


Nodding, Jean grinned a bit in remembrance. "Oh, right. I forgot. I did hear about that," she said.

"As long as no one winds up in the medlab. Then there'll be a problem." Otherwise, they were both adults and hadn't inspired any teenage monkey see, monkey do.


He sketched out a salute. "No dangerous games in this war, Doc. Promise."


"Great," Jean said. As it stood she found their antics fun to hear about, but if gauze and antibiotics wound up being involved she was going to make sure Amelia was the one doing the doctoring.

Gathering her papers, she stood up from the bench. "So, can I interest you in a some lunch in town? I was thinking of going into Salem Center to grab some random supplies and a bite to eat is sounding better and better.."


"Sure, why not." He pulled a leash from his pocket as he stood up in turn, whistling the dog over to have it put on. "I can bring her along to wherever you had in mind, right? If not, I'll find someone to watch her."

"It's a cafe with outdoor seating and I've seen a couple of other dogs there in the past so it shouldn't be a problem," Jean said.

"The owner, Norma, makes macaroni and cheese from scratch with five different cheeses. If you sweet talk her she'll usually give you another serving for free when you're done with the first one."


"Niiiice", he said happily. "I'm good at sweet-talkin' nice old restaurant owners. Just ask Mama Lupe."

Jean laughed. "I think she'll love you, then. The ones she really really likes also get pie."

Jean had a small obsession with pie.


"Pie is good. I like pie."

"I agree. Anyone who doesn't like pie is lying," Jean said with a firm nod.