xp_logs | [Angelo, Marie] They may not be fashionable...

Angelo runs into Marie on the second floor and they have a little discussion about exactly how far friends should go to take care of each other and when it's time to call in the professionals. Marie is a tad bitchy. A tad.

Angelo made his way upstairs from the gym, slowly, hands bruised from his unprotected battering of the punchbag. As he walked past the laundry room on his way to his dorm, the door opened and Marie came out with a bag of clothes.

"Hey, honey." Marie was looking a little tired, carrying a book in one hand, laundry in the other, as always. "How's things?

Angelo shrugged. "Hey, Marie. Okay, I guess. For me at least."

"Well, at least they're not sucking for everyone then, right?" she asked, a little too brightly. "Glad to hear it."

Angelo managed a weary half-smile, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I guess so."

Marie glanced at his hands as he put them in his pockets and sighed. "Make sure you put ice on those, will you?" Her tone was verging on irritation.

Angelo nodded. "Will do. Just needed somethin' to hit for awhile."

"Of course. We all do at times. Feel better now?" Marie mustered up a smile.

He shrugged. "Some. Should probably go check on Bobby again at some point before I go to bed."

"He'll be fine," Marie said, shaking her head. "I know this is hard on him, but he /will/ get over it. Don't exhaust yourself. If he's that bad, call Samson." She tried to keep resentment and frustration out of her voice and failed miserably. "The Friends of Humanity aren't about to go away any time soon."

Angelo looked unhappy. "I do know that. But I wanna see what we - well, what *I* can do to help, just this first day. If it doesn't pass, I'll tell Samson, an' I already told Dr. MacTaggart."

"Samson is an expert, Angelo. We are not. And Moira? Moira needs a professonal herself, you should probably consider her off-duty, even if she doesn't consider it herself." Marie bit her lip, pausing for a moment, and then continued. "Actually, I'll call him myself."

Angelo shrugged. "Might be an idea. I know Bobby said he'd talk to him about... stuff, but I'm not sure if he has yet or not. Didn't seem like a good moment to bring it up, I was tryin' to *stop* him shakin', not make him worse."

"...he? Oh, for the love of..." Marie took a deep breath. "Might be an idea? Might? Damnit, next time someone runs me through, takes off a piece of my face and shoulder, sets me on fire, or anything else, I'm just going to tell Logan to leave me the fuck alone so that maybe people will look at me and remember not to be as damn stupid as I was."

Angelo glared at her a little, not mad at her so much as the situation and his inability to help much. "Would be an idea. Whatever. It was just a turn of phrase, Marie. I'll talk to him again, when he's in a better frame of mind. You know?"

"Actually, Angelo, I do know. I know that you are a student and Bobby is a teacher and in theory, a residence assistant here, and so am I. I know that it's not your job to babysit him and if he's having a breakdown, he needs to be in medlab. I do know, should have known, precisely how well he'd be coping with this, and I should have done something about it, officially, whether he likes it or not. /He/ should have done something about it." Marie gestured to the galley where the refridgerator was. "Go put some ice on your hands. Wear gloves next time you want to punch the shit out of something. I'll make sure someone looks in on Bobby, someone whose job it is."

Angelo scowled. "Yeah, I'm a student an' he's a teacher. He's also a matter of months older than me an' my friend. I never said helpin' him was my job."

"I didn't say you couldn't help him, Angelo. Just that sometimes, helping means stepping back and letting someone qualified go to work. This isn't a broken heart or a failed test we're talking about here." She was obviously exasperated.

Angelo finally let fly, then. "But it was me he chose to tell. Or tell first, at least. Gives me some kind of obligation, I think."

"All it gives you, Angelo, is the honour of being the first to know, such as it is," Marie said flatly. "You are his friend, not his therapist, and you cannot fix him by yourself. I have no illusions about being able to fix you, or Manny, or anyone, even me, alone. It is my job to be here for the students on this floor, friends or otherwise, and I try and do that until they can get to someone qualified. But you? You are a student who has enough trouble making sure you get the help you need in a timely manner. You are not Bobby's caregiver."

Angelo glanced down suddenly. "I was the only person that knew, so far as I know. For weeks. An' I wanted to tell somebody, God, I wanted to, but he asked me not to - an' I think he has actually told more people now."

"That was wrong for him to do, Angelo." Marie's voice was tight with anger. "He should damn well have known better than to burden you with that. You may be his friend, but that doesn't make it right to leave you carrying that alone. He should have gone and gotten help then and there. If you need to talk to anyone about anything I've ever told you, because you can't handle it, do it, okay? Please."

Angelo nodded, head still bent, hands burrowing deeper into his pockets. "I will."

Marie leaned on the wall, looking at him. "Don't do this, Skin."

Angelo raised his head, confused. "Don't do what?"

"Don't go grinding yourself into some mire of self-loathing and then take it out on yourself."

Angelo blinked. "I... don't think I was goin' to. Not this time. 'm just tired."

Marie nodded, not totally convinced but willing to accept his word. "Good. Then go get some cold packs out of the freezer. Go to your room. And lie down. I'll look in on Bobby, okay?"

Angelo nodded and stood up straighter, stumbling a little when he took a step, more tired than he was admitting. "Okay. Don't be mad at him."

"Honey? If I was going to lose my temper for real at Bobby Drake, I would have done so /long/ ago." Marie laughed at that and reached out to give Angelo a little hug.

Angelo hugged her back quickly. "Good. 's just what you were sayin' about how he shouldn't've done that..."

"Bobby's done a hell of a lot of things he shouldn't do," Marie said dryly. "I love him all the same. And he shouldn't have. But I'm not going to go yell at him about it or anything."

Angelo nodded, taking her word on trust. "Okay." He let her go to move towards the kitchen, stumbling again slightly on the first step. "Ice. Then bed. Right."

"Good boy." Marie patted him gently on the shoulder as she left. "I'll talk to you later."