xp_logs | Angelo and Leyu, yesterday

Set well before the drama with Shiro. Leyu happens across Angelo in the rec room and is very interested in his mutation. Not to mention cute.

Angelo was sitting in the rec room, half-watching the TV, half-asleep on one of the couches. He was startled out of his doze by the sound of the door opening, and looked round to see who it was.

Leyu poked her head into the rec room. No, definitely not the kitchen. But ooh! TV! TV meant cartoons, and cartoons are almost as good as fresh Pocky. "Oh, hello," she said when she saw the figure sitting up on the couch.

Angelo smiled at her, guessing who this must be. "Hey. You're Leyu, right?"

She nodded, tentatively taking a step forward. This guy was funny looking. "Your skin is gray," she blurted out before covering her mouth with her hands, embarrassed by being so blunt.

Angelo blinked, then chuckled - she was just a kid, after all. "It's okay. Yes, it is. 's part of my mutation."

Most kids would be freaked out by all the strangeness around here. But Leyu thought it was all really cool. She approached Angelo and reached out a hand. "Does it feel different from normal skin?"

Angelo sat still, letting her touch his arm to feel for herself. "Well, it's thicker, for one thing, when it's like this. It stretches, y'see."

She took a handful of his skin and pulled. "Wow," she said, giggling. "That's cool. I wish I could do something cool like that."

Angelo grinned. "Well, you're young yet. Maybe you will be able to, if you turn out to be a mutant too."

That answer seemed to please her. Leyu beamed and hopped up next to Angelo on the couch. "I didn't ask you what your name is."

Angelo smiled back at her, shifting over to make room. "I'm Angelo. I used to room with your brother an' Alex, actually."

"But they just live with each other now. Did Nii-san say something stupid that made you leave?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

Angelo grinned at her assumption that that was the only conclusion. "Not exactly. We just didn't get on all that well, y'know? It happens." He didn't really feel like trying to explain the circumstances at the time to her, since there didn't seem to be any need. "Why do you call him Nii-san?" he asked, curious about the nickname.

"Nobody likes him," Leyu pointed out. "Nii-san means 'big brother.' He gets mad when I call him by his name. Or at least he used to." She shrugged. "It's a silly Japanese thing. But since I am not in Japan now, I don't think I have to call him that."

"Alex likes him", Angelo reminded her. "So does Clarice, because he fences with her." He nodded, understanding. "So who have you met here so far?"

"Clarice is the girl with purple skin, ne? That's cool too. Hmm. I met Lorna, Artie, Miles, Alison, Jamie, and Doug. And I live with Angie, Amanda, Jane and that really mean girl whose name I don't care about because she's mean." Monet, of course.

Angelo chuckled. "That sounds like Monet. I wouldn't take it personal, she's like that to almost everyone."

"She's meaner than Nii-san," she maintained, and that was that. Stubborness is definitely a Yoshida thing.

Angelo conceded the point. "She probably is, at that. You got a room-mate, or are you by yourself for now?"

"No, they let me stay in my own room right now. I've never lived with someone else before. I hope I get someone cool. Maybe a girl with red skin who shoots ice out of her ears," she said wistfully.

Angelo laughed, amused by Leyu's imagination. "Oh, I'm sure you'll get someone cool. Can't guarantee the rest, but you never know."

"Or maybe someone with butterfly wings!" Leyu was getting excited thinking about her potential roommates. "That would be so pretty! Don't you think so?"

Angelo smiled at her. "Yeah, it would. We've actually got someone here with wings, but like a bird, not a butterfly."

"This place is the best," she proclaimed, nodding. "I'm so happy Nii-san took me here. I don't know why he's not friends with more people. Everyone is so nice and awesome." She smiled up at him.

Angelo grinned back, reaching out to give her a friendly hug. "Glad you think so. We do our best, most of us."

She returned the hug, and took the chance to mischievously take another bit of skin in her hand and pull it like silly putty.

From anyone else - if anyone older would have done such a thing - he would have taken umbrage and pulled away. But this was an extremely cute nine-year-old, so he let her get away with it.

She giggled and got back to her feet. "I'm hungry. I'm going to go make Lorna-san make me something." She gave Angelo an awkward little bow and headed out the room.

Angelo leaned back on the couch and returned his attention to the TV, still grinning.