xp_logs | Angelo and Shinobi

Angelo was sitting in his room, trying, as Shinobi had asked, to avoid the slightest possibility of running into Manuel. So when he wasn't in class, he'd mainly been keeping to his dorm for the last few days, with occasional trips to the kitchen.

A knock comes at the door, the rhythm likely giving away who it is even before Shinobi speaks up. "Ange, you home?"

Angelo glances up and answers, with a somewhat tired note in his voice, "Yeah, I'm here. Come on in."

Shinobi lets himself in, offering a slight grin as he closes the door behind himself. "You sound tired," he notes, tilting her head. "Doing alright?"

Angelo shrugs. "'Bout the same as ever", he replies. "Which means, actually, a bit better than the last couple of days."

He manages to refrain from his initial response ("That bad, huh?"), instead wandering further inside to find himself a place to sit. "Better is good," he nods. "..obviously, or it wouldn't be called 'better', I suppose."

Angelo chuckles slightly. "Yeah, guess so. What can I do for you, then?"

"Wanted to see how you were doing," Shinobi shrugs, waving vaguely towards the other boy with a smile that, after a moment, tightens almost inperceptibly. Let's get this over with. "And talk to you about Manuel, a little."

Angelo freezes for an instant, then turns to Shinobi, face blank but eyes wary. "Yeah?"

Shinobi takes in Angelo's expression for a moment before letting out a very quiet sigh. "Manuel told me what happened with the kitchen," he replies simply, folding his hands in his lap. "As well as what you said to him, before he retreated to his room."

Angelo nods, and answers flatly, "Did he now. An' did he also mention what he said?"

"No," Shinobi replies simply, arching an eyebrow. "And neither did you, which is why I'm here."

Angelo glances up at him, with a look of something like despair in his eyes. "I couldn't, man, you know that. Not 'til Bobby'd talked about it. But if Manuel told you..."

"I wasn't being accusatory, mate. I'm here to find out what's what, so I know what to do. If anything." Shinobi shrugs helplessly. "And he did. So, lay it on me. Clue me in."

Angelo glances away. "He called Bobby an assraper an' a pervert, an' said he enjoyed... what happened to him. He also said Bobby was threatenin' him."

Shinobi nods slowly, and has obviously been paying attention during the Speech classes - there's no reaction to the news on his face at all. "Did he say how Bobby was threatening him, or just that he thought he was?" he asks, voice patient.

"He said he was checkin' him out. But I know Bobby, an' even if he was, there's no possible way that could've been a threat. An' Manuel didn't even seem to care what he'd done to him, just kept insultin' him..."

"He was afraid," Shinobi replies simply. "Bobby's interest brought up some traumatic memories for him, and they got caught in a loop. That much was an accident - he was *not* torturing him for his own amusement." He pauses here to give Angelo a distinctly unhappy look before it's gone, just as quickly as it appeared, replaced by his usual calm and collected appearance. "When we're afraid, we lash out. He's still scared. Terrified, even."

"I never thought he was doin' it for his own amusement", Angelo answers quietly. "Seems - seemed to me it was revenge. For Bobby checkin' him out, for bringin' up the traumatic memories, whatever. Bobby's been havin' nightmares, you know. An' Manuel's in them, now." He falls silent, realizing he's said something he possibly shouldn't have. "I wouldn't've got so mad at him if he'd been sorry about it, y'know?"

"Manuel is unaccustomed to needing to apologize," Shinobi explains, thumbs tapping together a few times before he realizes the fidget and stills them. "He's used to waving a hand and having everything go his way. When things don't go his way, he throws tantrums. He is a child, and being here is forcing him to grow up very, very fast."

Angelo nods. "Yeah. But you get why I blew up at him, right? Bobby was already pretty screwed up, an' Manny made it worse an' seemed to think it was okay to do that."

"Manny was pretty screwed up, too. But yes, I understand why you blew up at him. Just because i understand, however, doesn't magically make it okay." Shinobi fell silent for a moment, eyeing Angelo before he drew in a deep breath. "So what happened to you, then?"

Angelo blinks. "What d'you mean?"

"The stuff that's been bothering you, connected to why Bobby's upset, that you couldn't talk about," Shinobi responds. "What happened to you?"

Angelo glances down and away. "When I was on the streets, I got desperate. It wasn't like what happened to Bobby, 'cause I... well, I didn't exactly choose it, but it wasn't a person that forced it on me. Got pretty rough sometimes, though."

"You were stuck turning tricks," Shinobi hazarded, blinking once as the idea rolled around in his head. That certainly explained some things.

Angelo doesn't look at him. "Yeah", he answers simply. "So hearin' Manuel call Bobby a pervert, when he didn't even have that level of choice in the thing..."

"He was probably calling him a pervert in regards to his sexuality, not just the situation," Shinobi guesses, propping his elbow against a knee and leaning forward, loosely fisting one hand and resting his fingers against his lips. "But, I can see why you were upset, yes."

Angelo laughs bitterly. "Is that s'posed to make it better?" he asks of Shinobi's first words. "He just hit one too many sore spots. I really did start off tryin' to cut him a break."

"No, it was just an observation," Shinobi replies, watching Angelo from his spot. He thinks for a moment, then shrugs, straightening up in his seat. "I'd ask what Manuel started off doing, but at this point, it doesn't really matter."

Angelo shrugs. "Things went downhill pretty fast."

Shinobi nods, lacing his fingers together and stretching his arms out in front of him, hands turned palms-outward to let him pop his knuckles. "You should talk to Samson, I think. And Emma. She'll drive it into Manuel's head that 'assraper' is not an appropriate form of address."

Angelo nods. "That's why I did... what I was doin'", he says abruptly. "When you found me in the woods. Memories."

Shinobi bobs his head in understanding, gesturing at his own forearm before resuming his previous hunch, fingers once again finding his lips. "You do that to yourself, when you were younger? Or did somebody else do it to you?"

"A few times when I was younger", Angelo answers quietly. "More often since I manifested."

"More to be upset with after you did, right?" Shinobi guessed gently, smiling a touch.

"Upset, shamed, sick to my stomach - not all at once, thank God, or not usually", comes the answer. "An' guess what? Manny can make me feel all that again even without his powers. Great, huh?"

"I could make you feel all that again, even without Manuel's powers, if I chose to," Shinobi shrugs. "Anybody could. Manuel isn't the only one in the world capable of being an asshole."

Angelo nods, accepting the truth of Shinobi's words without demur. "I know. But he did. An' I know he didn't mean to - how could he've done, he doesn't know any of this stuff. But knowin' he didn't mean to didn't make it any easier t'take..." He pauses, remembering something. "Anyway, didn't he say he could see people's emotions now, but not affect them? Maybe he did know..."

Shinobi has enough tact to close his eyes before he rolls them. "He can see the colours again, but they're muted, and doing it gives him a headache - and empathy isn't telepathy, Angelo. He wouldn't have any way of knowing even if he wasn't wearing that bracelet." With a shrug, he shifts to get back to his feet, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I'm not going to tell you to quit hating him, since you seem so hell-bent on doing it. He's an easy target, especially now. What I will ask you to do, however, is go to Samson."

Angelo curls up in a ball on the bed, sensing his friend's disapproval almost as clearly as if he'd shared Manuel's powers. "I'm sorry..." he all but whispers. "I don't like hatin' him, 'specially not now he's like this." He swallows and stops speaking.

"Then get over it. I did." Shinobi peers down at the Angelo-shaped ball on the bed, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards into a frown. "Go to Samson. And for God's sake, get out of the house. Take Paige and Jono out to dinner or something. I'll foot the bill, if that's the problem."

Angelo flinches instinctively away from what he perceives as irritation verging on anger in Shinobi's voice, whether it's actually there or not. He doesn't look up when he speaks next, voice disturbingly flat. "I'll go to Samson, yeah. An' I won't go near Manuel 'til I've sorted out the stuff about him. An' one of these weekends, me an' Paige are goin' to the movies with Bethany."

Shinobi doesn't sound angry, so much as he sounds exasperated, and that exasperation is definitely there as he sighs down at Angelo. "You're the most frustrating friend in the world sometimes, y'know that?" he muses, running one hand back through his hair. "I'm gonna go. Sorry for being an ass. Told you Manuel wasn't the only one capable of it."

Angelo does look up, now, anguish and no little guilt and shame in his eyes, mixed with a certain amount of fear - but of Shinobi walking out and never coming back, rather than of violence. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be. You're not bein' an ass, I know you came to help. I'm sorry."

After a moment's thought, Shinobi lets out another sigh, unpocketing his hands as he steps over to plunk down and sit on a free portion of Angelo's bed. "Don't worry about it," he replies, grinning tiredly and reaching over to ruffle the other boy's hair. "What say we duck out back and nab a smoke? You look like you could use one."

Angelo smiles faintly, hesitantly, and nods. "I never turn down a smokin' buddy", he says would-be lightly. "An', yeah, I could kinda do with one right now."