xp_logs | Angelo and Marie-Ange, backdated

Marie-Ange comes to see Angelo at the office and issue certain friendly threats.

"Come in!" Angelo called to whoever was knocking at his office door, without looking up from squinting at the piece of paper in his hand. "What's that supposed to say? What's wrong with typing?"

Even in heeled boots (it was winter, she was making an effort to be both fashion forward and warm - cold toes were not comfortable), Marie-Ange
managed to move quietly enough that she seemed to appear in front of Angelo's desk without warning. "I would interpret, but that is not my
cousin's handwriting." She said, peering over the paper. "Scan it and send it to Doug? Because it is always funny when he thinks badly-handwritten English is actually space alien languages."

"I'm not even sure this is English." He stared at it a moment longer, then set it down decisively. "I'll figure it out later, and send it to Doug too. Hey, Angie."

"How are you settling in? Besides the terrible handwritten notes and being burdened with my cousin and John in your office at the same
time?" Marie-Ange asked, with a smile that said she was mostly teasing. Poking fun at Jean-Philippe and John was simply too good to pass up.

Angelo chuckled. "I'm liking being the boss, gotta say. As for the burdening... trust me, your cousin has nothing on the Firebug. I'm still trying to make him keep his desk not looking like a trash pile."

"Yes, but John does not flirt with his boss." Marie-Ange said, with a wry smile. "Or does he, and you have just managed to resist his charms, but not my cousin's?"

That got a startled pause, frozen mid-whatever he'd been about to say, then a slow grin in return and a raised eyebrow. "You noticed, huh? Yeah, John and I got the flirting and - everything else - out of the way a long time ago. Your cousin and me, on the other hand..."

"My cousin is not quite what I would call subtle." Marie-Ange said. "Plus he bought all new cute briefs when we went shopping last, and he only does that when he has a regular partner. It added up nicely."

Angelo snorted. "Yeah, that sounds like him. As for regular... I guess we are heading that way lately."

"I had that impression." Marie-Ange said, with a smile. "I suppose he could have worse taste," she teased. "I am obliged to tell you that should you hurt him, I will dump you in the East River, but I plan to tell him much the same about you."

"Family obligations, totally understood", he said, and grinned. "For what it's worth, I'm not planning on hurting him at all."

"Unless he might like that sort of thing, but I am fairly sure that is not something my cousin, for all of his openness about his sex life, is into." Marie-Ange said, languidly. "And if he does, I do not want to know, at all. We get along, but I would prefer to know as little as possible."

"That's a different kind of hurting", Angelo came back wickedly. "But point taken, what your cousin and I get up to stays between us."

"See that is just what I did not want to know!" Marie-Ange put her hands up in a warding-off gesture, but could not do anything about the wide smile. "It was bad enough when it was Mark, at least then I did not like my cousin!"

"And Mark with his lack of filter", he said with a grin in return. "Must've been hell for you. It's good you two're friends again now."

"I think after all of that, I would be hard pressed not to be."