xp_logs | Two logs from yesterday: Angelo and Amanda; Angelo and Madelyn; Angelo and Nathan

Angelo goes along to visit Nathan and finds him out, so he decides to wait. Amanda arrives, having had the same idea, words are exchanged and Amanda bolts, just as Madelyn arrives. She dispenses advice, then leaves Angelo to wait, which he does until Nathan shows up and invites him in. They avoid talking about anything significant, and the Animal Conspiracy is discussed.

As he'd promised Moira he would, Angelo made his way along to her and Nathan's suite at the first chance he got, Joyita in tow. Finding the rooms apparently empty when he knocked, but having nothing much else to do, he sat down with his back against the wall and waited, puppy in his lap and occupying his attention.

Also keeping a promise to Moira, Amanda climbed the stairs to the third floor, only to stop dead when she saw Angelo sitting outside the door. Her first instinct was to turn and go before he saw her, her second to punch him in the nose and demand to know since when did he get to make the decisions for her. The third instinct won out - she approached, standing in front of him, and said, in a neutral tone: "I got yer email. In case you were wondering, that is."

Angelo spent the next few moments fighting a battle with himself not to actually flinch at her words and the flat tone they came in, which he won. Finally looking up, face as blank as he could make it, he answered just as neutrally, "Well. Good. It was meant to be read."

Angelo should never play poker - she saw the struggle to keep calm, but didn't let it touch her. "Yer'd think I'd be used to it, people makin' the decisions for me," she went on, in an almost conversational tone. "But you know what, I ain't. Still, I can't make you be my friend, and after what Manny showed you, I figured yer'd want nothin' t' do with me."

Angelo looked at her, and a flash of pain crossed his face. "Who ran away from who on Saturday?" he reminded her flatly. "An' if you read the e-mail, all of it, I already said it had nothin' to do with what Manuel showed me."

"I know what you said." Amanda shoved the hurt down, into the place she used to push everything she wanted to hide from Rack. "But you tell me, t' me face, that it don't change anythin', that you weren't horrified at what you saw."

Angelo looked up at her, meeting her gaze. "It changes nothin'. Why the hell would I be horrified? From you any more than from anyone else? I was shocked, yeah, but that's only 'cause I didn't know." He sighed. "Tell me, Amanda - how would you expect me to've reacted if I found out that, say, Clarice felt like that about me?"

"Clarice doesn't go 'round callin' you her big brother. Clarice didn't fuckin' lie an' say she didn't feel that way 'bout you. An' Clarice ain' a bloody junkie who drops people in the shite." Amanda spat the words. "I look at you an' Paige, an' I know I can _never_ have somethin' like that, an' it kills me. An' what I did have... well, I've royally fucked that up now, haven't I? An' you want t' know the stupid thing? I thought I was over the whole thing. It was just a silly teenage crush, but just for a second, when you told me you... when you said what you did, I _wanted_ it t' be what Manny thought it was, wanted you. What a fuckin' joke. Like I could ever have anyone like you. Best I get is the person everyone hates." It was getting hard to control her voice, and fuckitall, there were tears forming in her eyes. Pathetic - this place had made her softer than custard. "Who won't ever speak t' me again. Might as well've served him up t' Jubilee on a platter with an apple in his mouth."

Angelo just looked at her, eyes sad. "I know I can't change your mind about what you think of yourself. But please believe me - I wasn't horrified, an' that wasn't why I wrote that e-mail. Far from it. An' you can have whatever the hell you want - maybe not with who you want it to be with, not with me, not now, but you can have it good. But you never will if you keep thinkin' you won't, cliched as that sounds." He tried to catch her gaze, but she avoided his eyes. "An' here's a truth for you - if it weren't for Paige, if I hadn't fallen for her before I ever met you... well. It's not as out there as you seem to think."

Amanda looked at him, the expression on her face so lost, so alone, reminding Angelo of the night on the roof. "I can't..." she said at last, backing away and nearly tripping over her feet. "'M sorry, Ange, I really am, but I can't... Tell Nate I'll be by later." She turned and headed back down the stairs, nearly colliding with Madelyn as the doctor was coming up. Madelyn looked after the fleeing girl, a frown on her face, before turning to Angelo in his miserable huddle.

"You okay?" she asked, perhaps a little needlessly.

Angelo looked up at her with something almost like amusement on his face. "Think that'd be a no", he answered quietly, holding a worried-looking Joyita away from his face. He wasn't in the mood for puppy kisses, even in an attempt at comfort.

"Yeah, not exactly me at my most clever," she said wryly. She indicated a spot next to him on the floor. "This seat taken?"

Angelo shrugged, moving over slightly in an implicit invitation, before voicing it. "Feel free."

Madelyn sat beside him, internally grimacing at the stiffness of her knees. Oh yes, she was spending far too much time in the medlab. "It's an improvement, talking to you outside of medlab," she began, with a slight smile. If Angelo wanted to talk about it, he would, but not if she pushed him too hard. "But I'm guessing the dramas haven't stopped. Something to do with Nathan, was it?"

"The dramas never stop", Angelo told her, mostly seriously. "An' no, it wasn't. 'Cept that we both happened to be outside his door - came to visit, but he's not in."

"Moira told me he was getting restless," Madelyn said. "Nathan doesn't take bedrest well, even when he's prone to falling over every time he has a strenuous thought." She glanced over at Angelo, observing the the tenseness of his posture, the miserable look on his face. "Don't tell me the Nicotine Twins had some sort of falling out?" she asked, lightly, but there was compassion in her voice as well. "I'm probably not your chosen confidante, but sometimes it helps, talking to someone with a bit of distance from the situation. But only if you want to."

Angelo glanced over at her, trying to come to a decision. Finally, he sighed and answered, "It's been in the works for awhile, really. Somethin' had to set off the explosions..."

"Don't tell me... Manuel, right?" Madelyn had seen the various spats in the journals, and wondered when things were going to come to a head. "He finally decide he couldn't handle you and Amanda being friends?"

Angelo managed a kind of grim smile. "More or less." He sighed. "Short version? Figured it was time t'get a few things out in the open, 'bout how important she is to me. Family. But Manuel was in the kitchen, we didn't know, an' he saw feelin's of hers I didn't know about. Not like she'd ever acted on them while she was with him, but just them bein' there was apparently too much for Manuel. Things kinda blew up after that."

Ah. Teenage dramas. It was nice to know some things were still relatively normal, even in the face of the more insane parts of their lives here. "So, did he make her choose? Between the two of you?" she asked gently.

"Not exactly", came the answer. "He was all set t'storm off, she tried to get him stay, told him again we were just friends, but he didn't believe her. That's when he showed me what she'd felt, an' he left not long after. An' she didn't want to talk to me."

"Ah." The flot pickens, Maddie thought. "I'm guessing what she felt and what she'd said didn't exactly match up?"

"Yes an' no", Angelo answered slowly. "I mean - I can see why she never told me, it must've seemed like there wasn't much point - she knows all about me an' Paige, an' maybe she was hopin' it'd go away if she kept not sayin' anythin' - or maybe it really didn't matter. Doesn't work like that when you're datin' a jealous empath, though."

"Not to disparage her feelings, or your appeal, kiddo, but teenage girls get crushes. All the time. And you were one of the first friends she made here, right?" Angelo nodded, and she went on. "So it's natural for her to get a little... attached to you. But you're right, Manuel complicates things, as he usually does." She reached over, patted Joyita. "Give it some time, things will calm down. Once she's had some time to think about it, I'm sure she'll want to talk to you again."

Angelo shook his head, bleakly. "'m not so sure. She thought I'd hate her for it. She actually thought I'd be horrified that someone like her felt like that about me. She said... how could she ever have someone like me, like we're any different. I don't know how I can make her think otherwise."

"Maybe you can't, Angelo. I know it's hard to see a friend in pain, but sometimes friends aren't the best equipped to help with some of this kind of thing. She's seeing Doctor Samson, yes?" Madelyn remembered something about that being part of the fallout from the love potion incident, and made a mental note to check with Leonard next time he was in. It sounded like Amanda's self-esteem issues had made a reappearance, which didn't bode well for the addiction management, if it got out of hand. "It's his job to help her see she's not a bad person that way - the best you can do is be there for her, when she lets you, let her know you're still her friend, regardless. Once she's stopped being mad, tho' - no sense getting into a fight you don't have to."

Angelo winced, knowing what he'd done but not willing to talk to Madelyn about it, unless he had to. "I've tried to. Sort of", he answered, selectively truthfully.

"That's all anyone would ask, that you try. And I know it doesn't feel like it now, but things will get better. Trust me - people are stressed, and have too much time on their hands. Once school starts up again, everything will go back to normal, or as close to normal as it can get."

Angelo laughed a little, leaning his head back against the wall. "'s not sayin' much, round here. But I guess you're right."

She'd made him laugh. Her work here was done, or at least, as done as she'd manage without putting her foot in it. "That's the spirit, kiddo. Now, since Moira isn't here and I have a checkup to perform, I'll be taking my leave. I'm hunting Scots!" she added, in a very bad Elmer Fudd impersonation. Her knees complained as she got to her feet. "Ugh, you didn't hear me say it, but I'm getting too old for all this."

Angelo tilted his head back to look up at her. "Didn't hear a thing. I think I'll stay here awhile, wait for Nathan to show up."

Madelyn nodded. "Distraction's good. For both of you." She bent and patted his shoulder. "You've got a good heart, Angelo - that's worth a lot."

After Madelyn left, Angelo had plenty of time to get himself back into good enough shape to put on a cheerful face for Nathan. Which was very important - this really wasn't the time to be dragging Nathan into his somewhat less significant troubles. So he sat and waited, idly playing with Joyita's ears as she did her puppyish best to cheer him up.

Nathan felt rather like he was dragging himself back up the stairs. He might not be struggling against the urge to nap, but the fatigue was still there, and he was definitely heading back to bed. Didn't want to think about that conversation with Charles, at all...

Angelo heard him coming before he saw him and got to his feet to wait the last few moments, scooping Joyita up and leaning against the wall by the door.

Nathan turned down the hall and stopped, seeing Angelo there. He tried to muster up a smile, but it came out a little frayed around the edges. "Uh... hi," he said, and then blinked as Joyita barked at him. "And hi," he said, continuing down the hall towards the door of the suite.

Angelo returned the smile, genuine if more tired than he could easily hide. "Hey. Sorry I've not been to visit the last few days. Didn't mean anythin' by it."

"I..." Nathan flushed a bit, even as he opened the door and waved at Angelo to follow him in. Moira must have been whispering in his ear, he thought, half-aggravated, half-pleased by the idea. "I just... well, never mind. No need to apologize. Want to sit down?"

Angelo followed him into the room, putting Joyita down as soon as the door was safely closed, and nodded, taking a seat on one of the armchairs. "How's things with you?"

"They're... there," Nathan said a bit vaguely, sinking down onto the couch. "Things." Joyita came running over to him and he extended a hand, which she started to lick happily.

Angelo nodded, knowing the feeling. "Well, that sounds... not too bad, given how soon it's been."

Nathan gave a slightly brittle laugh, then sighed as the puppy jumped up onto his lap. "Sit down," he scolded her softly, scratching her ears as her tail wagged jubilantly. "What is it with puppies and jumping all over me this week..."

Angelo raised an eyebrow. "You met Oscar, then? They do say puppies know when you're feelin' off, an' try to make it better."

"I met Oscar. Sarah found me outside yesterday and dragged me back in." Joyita tried to jump at his face and Nathan snorted. "Don't do that," he muttered, letting her grab his hand instead.

"If she gets too rough, point her back over here", Angelo suggested, mindful of the fact that Nathan would still be healing physically, never mind the rest. "Did you need draggin' back in?" he asked almost lightly.

"Probably." He wasn't getting into it with Angelo about wanting to be out from inside the walls, especially since the removal of the posthypnotic suggestion hadn't really made that feeling go away. If anything, it was worse now. "Was having an off couple of hours."

Angelo nodded, unsurprised. "Anyone else, I'd say take some kind of alarm when you go out, 'case it happens again, but I guess you don't need one, with the telepathy."

Joyita finally settled down in his lap, her tail still wagging frantically, and Nathan sighed, stroking her. Over in her cage, Bella gave an almost indigant squeak, and Nathan blinked at her. "Be nice," he murmured.

Angelo glanced over that way, amused. "You jealous, Bella?" Looking back at Nathan, he asked, "Can she come out? Only seems fair she should get fussed too."

Nathan nodded. "Be good," he cautioned the bird, who hooted at him loudly.

"Nate! Bah!"

Since Nathan had a lap full of puppy, Angelo got up to open the cage and let Bella out, holding out his arm in case she wanted a lift to the ground.

She hopped to his arm and then climbed to his shoulder, squealing. "Cane! Dance, cane!" Joyita, who seemed rather content on Nathan's lap, just wagged her tail.

Angelo chuckled, turning his head to give Bella an apologetic look. "Don't think you're gettin' any dancin' right now, Bella. Good to see you remember her, though."

"Her memory's just fine," Nathan said, trying not to sound either disgruntled or unhappy. "Isn't it, Bella?"

"Bella good!"

Angelo nodded at her, moving back to his armchair to sit down again. "Yes, you are", he answered automatically, eyeing Nathan with some concern - the front he was putting up was good, but not as good as usual, which was only to be expected really.

"So your days must be pretty empty-feeling, after Asgard," Nathan said a bit tensely, shifting under Angelo's gaze. Joyita merely rolled over in his lap, bonelessly, and let her tongue hang out. "No classes or anything..."

Angelo nodded, purposely looking away to stroke Bella's feathers where she was now perched firmly on his knees. "It is a bit. Got Joyita now, though, she keeps me busy, an' there's the gym, an'... the runnin' track..."

Nathan almost smiled. "Persisting with that, huh? Good."

Angelo grinned ruefully. "Tryin' to. Not had that much luck givin' up the cigarettes, though I'm gonna give it another go."

"Remember, willpower gets you everywhere... except when it doesn't," Nathan amended with a heavy sigh. Joyita immediately proceeded to start licking his hand again.

Bella also decided to hop down off Angelo's knee at that moment and cross the room, crooning at Nathan. Angelo blinked, not sure where that last part had come from in what had started out as a perfectly good pep talk. "Yeah, I'll get there in the end. Long-standin' habits take awhile to break, though."

Nathan nodded, then grimaced a little as the bird proceeded to climb up the side of the couch and onto his shoulder. "What?" he muttered as she ducked her head against his cheek. "What's that racket about...?"

"I think she didn't like it when you sighed", Angelo said helpfully and possibly unnecessarily. "She's tryin' to make you feel better, like Joyita is."

"Silly bird," Nathan muttered, reaching up to stroke her head. Bird on his shoulder, puppy on his lap... any minute now, Delphine was going to wander in and start purring at him. The animals were definitely conspiring.