Log: Clarice and Angelo

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Angelo was sitting in the medlab waiting area, resisting the urge to pace - and to leave the room every five minutes to demand news. He was helped somewhat by Joyita's presence, sitting in his lap and doing her best to make him feel better.

"Heya," Clarice said softly, startling Angelo. She slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

He recovered from the surprise quickly, nodding to her without cracking a smile. "Hey."

"I brought your rosary," she pulled it out of her pocked to hand to him, deftly unwrapping her hand from the cool beads. "I never thought having one could be comforting, it was just always...there."

Angelo took it and started running the beads between his fingers. "Thanks. You're Catholic?"

Shrugging, she pulled out a large back of chips and salsa, "Ferguson's Irish. I never much cared, but I was confirmed when I was little. Didn't really have a say in it, y'know?"

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. I was raised to it, too, but it really can help. Well, I've always found it does."

"Mostly, I was confused by it, but it's something. And something is better than nothing, I guess," her smile was sad, "I used to ask questions so much, the teachers hated it. I kept asking 'why' and
there is a point where they could only say 'you have to have faith' and I just...that didn't work. Guess not much has changed."

Angelo returned the sad smile. "It's not somethin' you can be told, or taught, not like that. You get it, or you don't."

"I get the whole God thing...it's the Trinity that just throws me a loop," she absently scratched Joyita's ears as the puppy wriggled on Angelo's lap. "It's like, I get why people think mutants are scary sometimes, but not how parents can disown their kids for being a mutant."

Angelo blinked, not sure what to make of that and equally unsure how he seemed to have ended up giving Clarice a lesson in Catholic doctrine. "What part is it you don't get?"

Clarice shook her head, "It's not really important," she handed him the bag of chips she'd been munching, "Chip?"

Angelo nodded, more than willing to drop the subject, and took a handful of chips. "Thanks. Not sure how long we could be down here. They might not even let us in to visit at the end, not
tonight, but I gotta stay anyway."

"Knowing Nathan's tendencies for getting hurt, there's not a chance that we'll get to visit."

"Still. News is better than nothin'."

She nodded again, agreeing, "Yeah. At first I thought it was really strange to have so many full-time doctors and a full medlab out of Star Trek, but damn do we need it."

Angelo chuckled wryly. "You're tellin' me."