xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan

They eat instant oatmeal and talk about Nathan's plans for the weekend. And evil space monkeys.

Moira had insisted that he eat, while she made the flight arrangments. His stomach was sufficiently unsettled that he didn't really think that was such a good idea, but she'd folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot and given him That Look. And Nathan liked to think that he was not a dumb man. So he'd headed down to the main kitchen - the fridge in the suite had been a little bare - and had settled on instant oatmeal, much as Rahne would have been horrified by the very idea. Leaning back against the counter, he worked through the bowl meticulously, spoonful by spoonful, his eyes locked on the kitchen window.

He was still there when Angelo wandered in looking for some breakfast, sleepy puppy at his heels. He stopped in the doorway, seeing Nathan. "Hey."

Nathan blinked and then mustered a smile for Angelo. "Hey," he said. Joyita stopped at the kitchen doorway, wagging her tail, and Nathan's smile grew a bit. "Got her well-trained on that score at least. Or is she just afraid of Lorna's wrath?"

Angelo chuckled slightly. "Oh, Lorna wouldn't really hurt her. But she does have a point about dog hair in the kitchen, so it's for the best." Turning to pet Joyita, he told her, "Good girl. Stay here, now" before moving further into the kitchen to sit down.

"There's lot of instant oatmeal," Nathan said, waving his spoon. "You could live dangerously with me."

Angelo laughed. "Instant oatmeal is livin' dangerously? But, sure, I'll have some." He stood again to reach down a bowl and spoon.

"Well, Rahne. Wrath." Nathan blinked and then laughed, a bit wearily. "Rahne and wrath... the two don't really go together, do they?"

"Not really", Angelo answered, amused. "She'd give you a Look an' probably insist on makin' some real oatmeal, but no wrath."

"It's much inferior," Nathan agreed, poking at the remains of the oatmeal in his bowl. "Ah, well. It's food." And he was supposed to be eating it.

Angelo nodded sagely, dishing some oatmeal into his own bowl. "An' it's even more or less healthy."

"I look on it as fuel," Nathan said with a brief smile. "No more, no less. Especially since I know I won't eat on the plane."

Angelo blinked. "...Plane?"

"Yeah, Moira and I are heading out as soon as she can arrange the flight," Nathan said, eating his oatmeal. "She told me to eat or she wouldn't let me help pack, so." Angelo was giving him a curious look, and Nathan shrugged. "We'll just be gone overnight. Quick there and back."

Angelo nodded. "...Okay. Where're you goin'?"

"California." Nathan smiled a bit. "Not quite your old stomping grounds - San Franscico and Sacramento, actually."

Angelo tilted his head, not quite understanding. "What's to do out there?"

"Anyone ever tell you that you're very curious?" Nathan said, with a smile to take the edge off the words.

Angelo smiled fleetingly, but seemed chastened. "Yeah. Cecilia. She didn't like it, but that was different. I don't hardly know her."

"Don't worry," Nathan said after a moment, almost gently. "That wasn't me trying to tell you to back off... well, not quite. Just still trying to wrap my own mind around what we're doing."

Angelo nodded, deliberately not asking what Nathan meant. He'd talk about it if he wanted to.

Oh, there was no point to the mystery, Nathan supposed, watching Angelo pretending not to watch him. "Doug found out where my family is buried," he said quietly. "That's why we're going."

Angelo's head snapped up, eyes wide. "He... oh, man." He was apparently lost for words, other than that.

Nathan couldn't help smiling a little, again. "It's okay, Angelo," he said. "This is a good thing - or I hope it'll be, at least."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I can see how it would be. Get to say goodbye."

Almost done the oatmeal. "We'll be back by tomorrow night," he said. "I might be a little bleary-eyed in class and for our session in the gym on Monday, but people keep saying that I'm disturbing when I'm chipper, anyway."

Another nod. "It'll be fine - everybody'll understand, even if they don't know why. An' that made no sense at all..."

"People take a lot of things on faith around here," Nathan said with a nod and another smile. "That made more sense than you think."

Angelo smiled back. "Oh. Good. Yeah, that's what I meant."

Nathan scraped the last bit of oatmeal off the bottom of his bowl, ate it, then turned to rinse the bowl and put it in the dishwasher. "So I'll see you, on Monday if not Sunday night," he said briskly, straightening back up. "Try and have fun or something this weekend?"

He grinned. "Will do. We're stagin' an invasion of evil space monkeys. With kilts an' bagpipes."

Nathan blinked. "I chose a good weekend to go out of town, didn't I?" he said with a helpless laugh. "Someone needs to make sure they take pictures."

"Oh, I'm sure somebody will. Angie's providin' the monkeys, so Doug an' Jamie'll probably want to record it."