xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan

They chat at the Armenian restaurant. Angelo is a mother hen until Nathan distracts him.

Well, the Armenian restaurant seemed to be a hit, at least, Nathan reflected a bit dimly, watching the students chattering as they sampled each others' dinners. He picked without much enthusiasm at his own - amich, one of the stuffed chicken dishes.

Angelo, sitting nearby eating a plate of lavash (cheese wrapped in flatbread), glanced over at him with a slight frown. "Not hungry?"

Nathan smiled faintly. "Not really. How's yours?" Every time he'd seen Angelo this afternoon at the library, he'd been deeply engrossed in some book or another, and had been amassing a truly impressive amount of notes.

"It's good. You want to try a little bit?"

"Thanks, but that's okay." Nathan let his gaze wander down the long table again, shifting in his chair in an attempt to get more comfortable. He felt strangely sore and stiff tonight. Too much time in those library chairs, probably.

Angelo was eyeing him surreptitiously while he wasn't looking. "You sure you're okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Nathan waved off Angelo's concern, picking up his water and sipping at it. "The heat was off in our suite last night so I didn't sleep all that well, that's all."

Angelo nodded, not completely convinced but having no real reason to disbelieve it. "You got Mr. Marko fixin' it?"

"He said he'd take a look at it today." Nathan shrugged, smiling again. "No big deal. So, did you get everything you needed today?"

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Should be fine to write the essay now."

"Excellent. I think this was probably a good idea, this little trip... everyone seems fairly content with the work they did. The library back at the mansion is a good one for its size, but there's really no beating a major research library when you're working on subjects like this."

Angelo nodded again, with a slight grin. "An' it got us all out an' about for a while, too."

"Fresh air," Nathan said with a soft laugh. "What a concept. You'll all go back to being happily cooped up in the mansion again now? Oh, wait... the blood drive thing tomorrow. Fresh air two days in a row. You'll all be worn out."

Angelo chuckled. "I might get my driver's license soon. Even more fresh air then."

"If you need to practice, I could probably be persuaded to be a side-seat driver," Nathan said after a moment. "I taught Dom to drive, after all. Possibly one of my more significant life mistakes, but still..."

Angelo grinned. "Ah, she'd've learned sooner or later anyway. I'd like that, when you have time."

"You know what they say about time and making it," Nathan said, picking at his dinner some more. "Hey!" he said sharply, seeing some of the chattering down the table beginning to verge on horseplay. "No flying food. At all."

Angelo nodded. "Well, anytime you're free that we can work around classes."

"Then that's what we'll do," Nathan said, pushing his chicken around his plate some more.

Angelo nodded, eyeing the chicken. "Sounds good to me."

Nathan couldn't not notice Angelo giving him and his uneaten dinner That Particular Look. "It's looking at me funny," Nathan said with one of his patented Very Slightly Crazed Smiles.

Angelo raised an eyebrow. This was familiar... "Have you been goin' without sleep 'cause you think you don't need it again?"

Nathan actually laughed. "Angelo, I haven't done that since June. I do learn from my mistakes, you know."

"Well", Angelo said defensively. "You talkin' about the chicken givin' you funny looks made me wonder. I know you were probably jokin', but I wanted to make sure."

"Just joking." Nathan paused, giving the young man a fond smile. "I thought you'd be used to my sense of humor by now."

Angelo laughed a little. "Oh, yeah, I am. Sort of."

"Well, good. You shouldn't be totally used to my sense of humor. Not as much fun that way."

Angelo was almost completely distracted from Nathan's failure to eat at this point. "Very true."

Success. "So," Nathan said. "Tell me about what you're planning to argue in this paper..."