[Angelo, Marie] Silly girl, secret missions

[x-rogue.livejournal.com]

Angelo finds Marie playing video games with Artie and Miles. The two of them chat while the boys are their typically adorable selves.


"You have to go left and then up twice and spin!" Miles said for the fifth time, jumping off of Marie's lap to demonstrate in person.

"I know, sweetie. I always get stuck here, I'm just not fast enough. Here." Marie gave the game controller over to Artie who was literally bouncing with the anticipation of showing her how to get through the section of the video game. "Are y'all hungry?"

"Miles is hungry!" Miles chirped, spinning about. "Artie too!"

Angelo happened to walk into the room at that moment, pausing in the doorway with a chuckle when he spotted the little boy spinning like a dervish. "Hey, Marie. Hey, squibs. How're you all doin'?"

"Miles is good, thank you, Angelo," Miles answered, leaping to the couch where Artie was focussed on the game they were playing. The mute boy just nodded vigorously, not wanting to let go of the controller to answer.
"Hi, Angelo." Marie got to her feet and stretched. "You want some milk and cookies too?"

Angelo grinned, walking into the room and over to the couch, where he flopped down casually. "Sure, sounds good."

Marie came back in with milk - in drink boxes for the boys and a glass for Angelo - and a plate of cookies. "Jamie's been busy," she noted, putting the cookies on a table where everyone could reach them. "How was your Easter weekend? Did I miss anything good while I was gone? I read some of the posts about the fire and Nathan and all."

Angelo frowned fleetingly. "Yeah, Nathan's not been doin' too good, but I think he's improvin' now. The Red X thing was okay."

"That's good. And I saw Nathan yesterday." Marie bit her lip and shook her head. "I managed not to cry on him. I get so worried."

Angelo blinked up at her, worried in his turn. "Hey. He'll be okay. He's got the best fightin' for him."

"I know," she said quietly. "But for a bit there, he wasn't fighting for himself, you know? And I know I hardly know him, but I know Mo, and she's ... I just owe her a lot for treating me like I was human when I didn't feel like it. I don't want her to lose him."

Angelo nodded, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "I know. An' I think... he is fightin' for himself, now. He doesn't wanna go anywhere."

"He'd better not." Marie frowned direly, but then let it drop. "How were you while I was gone?"
Angelo smiled and shrugged. "Pretty good. You know how it goes, but it's not been too bad lately."

"Yeah, I know." Marie watched Artie and Miles - who had been having a small argument over tactics - tumble off the far end of the couch and onto the floor. Miles' wild giggles were a sure sign that the dissolution of the argument into a wrestling match was a fully amicable development. The two boys rolled about like puppies and Marie reached out to easily move the coffee table away with one hand, lifting it and setting it down outside of the combat zone. "Glad to hear you're doing okay, honey."

Angelo glanced over at the boys with a grin. "Yeah, me too. How've you been doin'?"

"Up and down," Marie admitted. "But I think I'm okay right now. It's nothing weird this time, you know? It's not people in my head, it's not guilt over killing someone, it's not major trauma. It's just... life. And I don't usually have time for that kind of thing."

Angelo nodded. "Want t'talk about it?" he offered quietly.

"Not much to talk about and..." she wrinkled her nose, looking uncertain, "I don't know if Logan would be okay with me talking about it. It's not like he told anyone where we were going or what we were doing. Scott didn't even know until I told him. It's just me being insecure, really." She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I'm just a silly girl."

Angelo blinked. "Hey. You're not." He scooted closer to her on the couch, putting a friendly arm around her. "Everyone gets insecure, but "silly girl"'s about the last thing I'd call you."

"It's silly when I can practically see inside Logan's head and I know how he feels about me and it doesn't make me feel better." Marie gave Angelo a sheepish smile and blushed. "See?"

Angelo blinked, not really understanding. "Uh. Sorta?"

"I know how he feels, Angelo. Kind of the way I knew how you felt about some things, only... better. And yet, I still feel like I'm bad for him, that he shouldn't be here, and that this is all some awful mistake. Like I'm wrong for him." Marie sighed and put her forehead on her knees, her hair falling to hide her face. "Silly. Girl."

Angelo sighed and reached out to stroke her hair, trying to comfort her in some small way. "Been there", he said simply. "Only like it's me that shouldn't be here. An' yeah, I don't know how Paige feels about me the way you do for Logan, but she's told me enough times. Doesn't stop the feelin' comin' at the bad times."

Artie and Miles had given up on their 'argument' and were commando crawling behind the couch to ambush the untended plate of cookies.

"When things are hard," Marie said, her voice muffled, "and I can help him, I don't feel so bad. But this place... this isn't right for him. I just want him to be happy. Oh, this isn't even what I wanted to talk about. He's a stupid, stubborn man." She raised her head and wiped a few tears away with one hand. "Artie Maddicks," she said almost automatically, not even looking over toward the cookies, "if you think you can fit more than three cookies in your mouth at once, you are sorely mistaken."

Miles' giggle drifted out from under the coffee table and Artie's hand emerged from the shadows to set a cookie back on the plate.

Angelo bent down to peer under the coffee table, purposely looking away from Marie in case she wanted a few moments to pull things back together. "Miles? What are you doin' down there?"

Miles' little green head poked out and he blinked owlishly at Angelo. "Miles and Artie are raiding the cookies, Angelo. Shhh." He put a finger to his mouth, shushing Angelo with hilarious sincerity. "It's a secret mission." With that, he was back under the table with Artie again. A moment later, little green fingers wiggled up to sneak another cookie from the plate.

"I think they may need to go outside later to run off those cookies," Marie noted dryly.
Angelo chuckled. "Secret mission. Of course. An' I don't think they'll mind bein' allowed to run around outside."

"They never do. There's puddles to fall in and they'll need a bath when it's over, but they love every minute of it. Spring is definitely here. I'm hoping that the passing of winter means better things for everyone. You sound better lately, so do a lot of people." Marie tucked her hair back behind her ears and sat up straight, composed again. "I'm almost feeling positive about most things."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I've not been doin' too bad. Even the nightmares aren't more'n once a week now, sometimes not even that."

"That's fantastic." Marie turned to him with a bright smile. "Honey, I'm so glad for you."

Angelo smiled back. "Yeah, feels pretty good from this side, too. Red-X week, I thought might be a bad one, but turned out I didn't have t'go near the fire, so it wasn't so bad."
"I'm proud of you for going at all." Marie gave him a quick hug. "That took some doing."

Angelo returned the hug, still smiling. "It... felt like somethin' I should do. Not t'say I won't be happier if the next thing doesn't involve any fire at all, but..."

"But you did it. And fear didn't win." Marie nodded, understanding. "Things are getting better all around."

Angelo nodded back. "I think they are, yeah. Bad dreams from that didn't even come two nights runnin'."

"I can think of two little boys who are going to have some bad dreams from too many cookies," Marie said, a little louder. There was muffled laughter from behind the far couch. "I'd better run these two outside before they climb the walls. Want to come?"

Angelo grinned. "Sure thing. They're good kids."

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[x-crowdofone.livejournal.com]

Miles' little green head poked out and he blinked owlishly at Angelo. "Miles and Artie are raiding the cookies, Angelo. Shhh." He put a finger to his mouth, shushing Angelo with hilarious sincerity. "It's a secret mission." With that, he was back under the table with Artie again. A moment later, little green fingers wiggled up to sneak another cookie from the plate.

*sniff* They learn so fast . . .

And Artie so can. Just not the actual palm-sized chocolate chip ones. Oreos, now that's a different story.