Angel and Angelo || Saturday Afternoon
May. 6th, 2017 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_firestar posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsAngel and Angelo go out to lunch to talk about his newspaper column when they're quiet meal is interrupted by bigots. It's a hard time. For the bigots.
"Yeah, so as you can see... you've pretty much blown up our email." Angel was grinning as she showed Angelo the Chronicle email on her phone. It was full of people wanting advice from Dienekes. "Probably enough questions here to fuel columns for a couple years." Angel sipped her soda, pleased with the situation. It was sad, of course, that mutants needed to ask underground newspapers for legal advice. But at least they could help.
He grinned. "I shouldn't really be pleased people need it, I guess, but... it's good to know it is needed."
"And at least they're getting advice from somewhere more trustworthy than a Google search." Angel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd tried googling "legal advice for mutants" just to see what would come up. The results hadn't been promising.
Angelo didn't bother to resist making a face. "Not that many openly mutant lawyers out there. Even I pick who I relax around."
Even if it gave him headaches, the alternative was worse.
"And everyone thinks they're an expert online." The bell over the door of the diner rang, and Angel looked up automatically to see a young man with spikes running down his head and into his shirt walking in. Back to Angelo. "Seriously, I've found some Tumblr posts that are basically a guide to how to get yourself arrested and everyone thinks it's good advice."
The new arrival got a similarly uninterested glance from Angelo, then he nodded.
"Sometimes I wonder if people actually want to get themselves arrested, so they can say they resisted."
"I've found a few people saying exactly that." Angel shook her head. "Lucky all they got was a night in jail and a fine for their troubles. People are ridiculous."
The bell rang again, and a couple of men walked in, their eyes sweeping over the diner patrons.
They got a slightly longer look, something about them setting off Angelo's mental alarms.
"They really are... and that guy is staring at our friend with the spikes."
"I was hoping I was imagining that." Angel slowly put her phone in her bag and pushed it down the booth, into the corner, her eyes locked on the men the entire time. "Sit down buddy boys..."
They didn't, of course. Angel tensed, watching as they stalked across the diner, to the man the spiky man sitting by himself in the corner.
"Sometimes staring is just staring..." But then it became an approach, and Angelo met Angel's eyes in silent question.
"Beat it, mutie," one of the men snarled, and the spiky man hunched up. "You're sitting in our seat."
Angel nodded silently to Angelo, standing up. The rest of the patrons, she noticed as she turned away from Angelo and to the group in the corner, were determinedly looking away, not wanting to get involved. "There seem to be plenty of other empty tables." Angel's tone was quite pleasant, as if they were talking about the weather.
Angelo was at her side, smiling amiably.
"Better ones, even."
The men were thoroughly unimpressed as they looked over at the duo. "Screw off," one of the men said as another grabbed the spiked mutant's arm, dragging him up.
"Let him go." Angel dropped the pretense and took a step forward. The men were both bigger than her by a fair bit, but she doubted they had any kind of training beyond street fights. Certainly no training against anyone competent.
They were bigger than Angelo, too, but so were a lot of people and he'd learned ways around that. Learned them well.
"Two of you, one of him. Firestar, why don't we make it a bit fairer?"
A humorless smile pulled at Angel's lips. She couldn't exactly bust loose in a public place, but she also really didn't have to. She turned herself so no one could get a good look at her face (in the age of smartphones, that was important), and said, "I'm all for making things fair. Although I don't know if it's really fair for them."
Taunting the male ego was always a sure thing. The men instantly abandoned the spiky mutant, deciding to take care of the two wannabe heroes before they finished their harassment. The one closet to Angel went for her, the other heading toward Angelo, and Angel easily dodged a poorly thrown punch.
Angelo deliberately let the skin of his face hang much more loosely than he usually did, for purposes of disguise. If they grabbed it, it would stretch and he thought he could count on disgust to make them let go.
"This won't take long", he observed, ducking away from an equally telegraphed punch and using the man's momentum against him to send him spinning into the wall.
"It's pretty much already over," Angel agreed as the man swung at her again, and this time she grabbed his wrist, sending him to join his friend.
"We could", Angelo said, advancing on both men but slow enough to give them time to run, "call the cops. But all things considered, we're probably better off teaching you a lesson ourselves."
One of the men made a disgusted noise as he pulled himself up, looking a bit woozy all the same. They had just gotten their asses handed to them by a mutant and a girl, after all. Angel wasn't sure which was worse for their ego. "We ain't afraid of you freaks."
"That's not smart. But you don't seem like smart people," Angel said pleasantly. She was staying back, shielding the spiked mutant.
Angelo glanced back to see how shaken the young mutant was, and heard more than saw the attacker try his chances while his head was turned.
Without looking, he snapped out a hand to meet the man's face.
Angel bit down a laugh at the man's stunned expression. She wasn't going to get her sandwich that she had ordered, but that moment alone had made it worth it. "So, like we were saying," she continued as if nothing had happened, "we can continue teaching you a lesson you dearly need. Or you can run. That would be the smart thing to do."
The men exchanged looks. "Fuck this," he snarled. "Let's go."
"And remember this", Angelo added. "Maybe stop to wonder next time if the victim you pick on might not be protected after all."
One of the men gave Angelo the middle finger as they walked out. "Mature." Angel turned back to the spiked mutant, smiling a real, gentle smile this time. "You alright?" He nodded shakily.
Angelo leaned down to help him up.
"You get this kind of thing a lot, huh?"
"Y-Yeah," the man stuttered, self-consciously touching one of his spikes. Angel carefully looked around, making sure no one had a phone out.
"Let's get out of here. Let us treat you to lunch somewhere a little less hostile."
"There's a few much friendlier places around", Angelo agreed. "Even in Salem Center."
The man looked at them for a moment, clearly stunned by the acts of kindness. After a moment he nodded, a shaky smile pulling at his lips. "Okay. Sure. Thanks."
"Great!" Angel was all smiles as she bounced back to the booth to grab her bag. "Let's get going, then!"
"Yeah, so as you can see... you've pretty much blown up our email." Angel was grinning as she showed Angelo the Chronicle email on her phone. It was full of people wanting advice from Dienekes. "Probably enough questions here to fuel columns for a couple years." Angel sipped her soda, pleased with the situation. It was sad, of course, that mutants needed to ask underground newspapers for legal advice. But at least they could help.
He grinned. "I shouldn't really be pleased people need it, I guess, but... it's good to know it is needed."
"And at least they're getting advice from somewhere more trustworthy than a Google search." Angel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd tried googling "legal advice for mutants" just to see what would come up. The results hadn't been promising.
Angelo didn't bother to resist making a face. "Not that many openly mutant lawyers out there. Even I pick who I relax around."
Even if it gave him headaches, the alternative was worse.
"And everyone thinks they're an expert online." The bell over the door of the diner rang, and Angel looked up automatically to see a young man with spikes running down his head and into his shirt walking in. Back to Angelo. "Seriously, I've found some Tumblr posts that are basically a guide to how to get yourself arrested and everyone thinks it's good advice."
The new arrival got a similarly uninterested glance from Angelo, then he nodded.
"Sometimes I wonder if people actually want to get themselves arrested, so they can say they resisted."
"I've found a few people saying exactly that." Angel shook her head. "Lucky all they got was a night in jail and a fine for their troubles. People are ridiculous."
The bell rang again, and a couple of men walked in, their eyes sweeping over the diner patrons.
They got a slightly longer look, something about them setting off Angelo's mental alarms.
"They really are... and that guy is staring at our friend with the spikes."
"I was hoping I was imagining that." Angel slowly put her phone in her bag and pushed it down the booth, into the corner, her eyes locked on the men the entire time. "Sit down buddy boys..."
They didn't, of course. Angel tensed, watching as they stalked across the diner, to the man the spiky man sitting by himself in the corner.
"Sometimes staring is just staring..." But then it became an approach, and Angelo met Angel's eyes in silent question.
"Beat it, mutie," one of the men snarled, and the spiky man hunched up. "You're sitting in our seat."
Angel nodded silently to Angelo, standing up. The rest of the patrons, she noticed as she turned away from Angelo and to the group in the corner, were determinedly looking away, not wanting to get involved. "There seem to be plenty of other empty tables." Angel's tone was quite pleasant, as if they were talking about the weather.
Angelo was at her side, smiling amiably.
"Better ones, even."
The men were thoroughly unimpressed as they looked over at the duo. "Screw off," one of the men said as another grabbed the spiked mutant's arm, dragging him up.
"Let him go." Angel dropped the pretense and took a step forward. The men were both bigger than her by a fair bit, but she doubted they had any kind of training beyond street fights. Certainly no training against anyone competent.
They were bigger than Angelo, too, but so were a lot of people and he'd learned ways around that. Learned them well.
"Two of you, one of him. Firestar, why don't we make it a bit fairer?"
A humorless smile pulled at Angel's lips. She couldn't exactly bust loose in a public place, but she also really didn't have to. She turned herself so no one could get a good look at her face (in the age of smartphones, that was important), and said, "I'm all for making things fair. Although I don't know if it's really fair for them."
Taunting the male ego was always a sure thing. The men instantly abandoned the spiky mutant, deciding to take care of the two wannabe heroes before they finished their harassment. The one closet to Angel went for her, the other heading toward Angelo, and Angel easily dodged a poorly thrown punch.
Angelo deliberately let the skin of his face hang much more loosely than he usually did, for purposes of disguise. If they grabbed it, it would stretch and he thought he could count on disgust to make them let go.
"This won't take long", he observed, ducking away from an equally telegraphed punch and using the man's momentum against him to send him spinning into the wall.
"It's pretty much already over," Angel agreed as the man swung at her again, and this time she grabbed his wrist, sending him to join his friend.
"We could", Angelo said, advancing on both men but slow enough to give them time to run, "call the cops. But all things considered, we're probably better off teaching you a lesson ourselves."
One of the men made a disgusted noise as he pulled himself up, looking a bit woozy all the same. They had just gotten their asses handed to them by a mutant and a girl, after all. Angel wasn't sure which was worse for their ego. "We ain't afraid of you freaks."
"That's not smart. But you don't seem like smart people," Angel said pleasantly. She was staying back, shielding the spiked mutant.
Angelo glanced back to see how shaken the young mutant was, and heard more than saw the attacker try his chances while his head was turned.
Without looking, he snapped out a hand to meet the man's face.
Angel bit down a laugh at the man's stunned expression. She wasn't going to get her sandwich that she had ordered, but that moment alone had made it worth it. "So, like we were saying," she continued as if nothing had happened, "we can continue teaching you a lesson you dearly need. Or you can run. That would be the smart thing to do."
The men exchanged looks. "Fuck this," he snarled. "Let's go."
"And remember this", Angelo added. "Maybe stop to wonder next time if the victim you pick on might not be protected after all."
One of the men gave Angelo the middle finger as they walked out. "Mature." Angel turned back to the spiked mutant, smiling a real, gentle smile this time. "You alright?" He nodded shakily.
Angelo leaned down to help him up.
"You get this kind of thing a lot, huh?"
"Y-Yeah," the man stuttered, self-consciously touching one of his spikes. Angel carefully looked around, making sure no one had a phone out.
"Let's get out of here. Let us treat you to lunch somewhere a little less hostile."
"There's a few much friendlier places around", Angelo agreed. "Even in Salem Center."
The man looked at them for a moment, clearly stunned by the acts of kindness. After a moment he nodded, a shaky smile pulling at his lips. "Okay. Sure. Thanks."
"Great!" Angel was all smiles as she bounced back to the booth to grab her bag. "Let's get going, then!"
