xp_logs | Angelo and Shinobi

They sit in the kitchen and talk over food. Shinobi's prospective trip to Japan is discussed, among other things.

Angelo left the puppy sleeping in his room, not intending to be gone long, and headed to the kitchen for a snack. As soon as he pushed the door open, it became obvious someone else had had the same idea first.

Shinobi looked up from his book and bowl of noodles, and offered a slight grin. "Afternoon, Ange."

Angelo grinned back, heading for the fridge. "Hey, Shinobi. How's it goin'?"

"It's going," Shinobi shrugged, keeping his grin and glancing down to his book for a moment before closing it. "How are things with you?"

Angelo found a plate of edible and unclaimed leftovers in the fridge and brought them to the table, sitting down opposite Shinobi with a genuine smile, though tempered by his awareness that things perhaps weren't as good for his friend as they could be. "Pretty good, really."

"Good," Shinobi replied approvingly, his grin widening. "Things with Paige and the pooch are alright?" He paused a moment, and managed not to lose his grin when he added, "And Jono?"

"Things with Paige an' Joyita are fine", Angelo answered immediately, his own grin only fading slightly when he continued, "Jono... there's no change I can see, or not for the good anyway. But he's workin' on it with Nathan an' Askani."

Shinobi nodded thoughtfully, propping his chin up in a hand, and took to idly playing with his bowl of noodles with his fork. "They won't let anything happen to him, if they can help it. They're both good that way."

Angelo nodded, poking at his own food almost casually. "Yeah. I know." Changing the subject, he asked, "So what've you been up to lately?"

"Besides classes and the like?" Shinobi asked, tilting his head. "Reading, mostly. Trying to work up the nerve to take a quick trip to Japan sometime before the end of the century."

Angelo looked up with a smile. "Yeah? Got family over there?"

"In a manner of speaking," Shinobi nodded, smiling wryly. "I'm a smidge late in visiting my mum's grave this year."

Angelo blinked, then looked apologetic. "Oh, hey, I'm sorry. Didn't know..."

Shinobi couldn't help a brief chuckle, waving a hand dismissively. "Well, of course you didn't. I don't really advertise it or anything. Nothing for you to be sorry about."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I guess... When're you thinkin' of goin'?"

"Don't know," Shinobi admitted, shrugging helplessly. "I'm still working on getting up the guts to go at all."

Angelo looked at him, confused. "Why's that?" His first thought was that Shinobi was afraid his father would send people to get him, but this wasn't the first time he'd left the mansion for an extended period alone...

"Well, there's father," Shinobi said thoughtfully. "But mostly, I'm late. I promised I'd visit on time."

Angelo nodded, understanding. He knew all about obligations to the dead... "Think she'd prefer you to visit late than not at all", he offered quietly.

Shinobi nodded, drawing in a deep breath. "I think she would, too. Still annoyed at myself for being late at all, though."

Angelo shrugged slightly, having nothing more helpful to offer than a wry grin and a still-quiet, "These things happen. 'Specially when you're thousands of miles away from where you need to be."

"It was somewhat unavoidable," Shinobi admitted, tiredly rubbing at his forehead. "I will have to see when I can go. With classes, it's a little tricky."

"I'm sure you can work somethin' out. There's no way the Professor wouldn't arrange somethin' so you can go, not for this."

"We can hope," Shinobi agreed, nodding and looking down at his food. "I'll figure it out."

Angelo nodded back. "How long d'you think you'll be gone?"

"That depends on a couple of things, I'd think," Shinobi chuckled, looking back up. "I'll let you know when I know."

The wry grin returned. "Fair enough. Everybody needs time out sometimes, I know."