xp_logs | Nathan, Rachel and Jennie, backdated to the middle of Thursday night

Backdated to the middle of Thursday night. After this post, Nathan takes Rachel for a midnight stroll to see if she settles down and runs into the mansion's second-newest resident.

"Shhh," Nathan soothed the very cranky little person in his arms. "Don't be waking up the house, please?"

"Meh! Meh!"

Rachel had not, apparently, been so sure about the change in location. Or the nursery. Maybe he'd overdone it with the stencils? Nathan thought helplessly, and started down the stairs. He'd told Moira to go back to bed, and promised he'd make sure that the munchkin settled. He may have been overstating his abilities just a little.

Jennie's midnight wanderings had become more and more regular as her sleep patterns had become increasingly erratic. But being awake meant thinking about Julia, and Jennie knew that only time could make her feel better about this. Still, the less she was awake, the less she could feel depressed. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost bumped into the man walking down the hallway.

"Whoops... easy there, baby on board," Nathan teased lightly. He'd sensed her coming, but hadn't expected her to turn the corner quite so abruptly. The girl looked up at him, and he frowned a little. "Jennie, right?" he asked. Had to be the newcomer; he didn't recognize her.

"Meh!" Rachel said planitively, blinking at Jennie. "Meh!"

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry." Jennie backed up. "I wasn't really paying attention. I--" Jennie paused and then noticed the baby. "Awwwwww. Is this who everyone's been talking about? Hi there." Jennie cooed. "What's your name?

"This is Rachel," Nathan introduced the baby, who blinked at Jennie and emitted a squeak. "She's just a little unsettled tonight. We just moved her and her mother back up from the medlab and I'm not sure she knows what to make of the nursery Dad so painstakingly painted." He gave Rachel a woeful look; she squealed derisively.

Jennie reached out and wiggled one of Rachel's tiny fists. "You'll appreciate it more when stuff stops getting all blurry, huh Rachel?"

"Just to warn you," Nathan said with a rueful little grin, "before she startles you... she's telepathic."

#Ooo!# Rachel proclaimed, almost as if on cue.

Jennie squeaked. "Woah. Okay. I should have guessed that. What with, y'know, the catgirls and cyborgs and witches you have running around here. Telepathic baby. Sheesh."

"Telekinetic, too. Just like Dad, hmmm?" Nathan said to his daughter, who squeaked, aloud this time. "She doesn't do much of either," he said to Jennie, "thankfully. But her nursery is psi-shielded, and I think that's part of the reason she can't sleep. It's bothering her..."

"Hmm. I guess it's kind of like she's just used to hearing people, like with puppies you gotta make them sleep with a clock because the ticking reminds them of their mother's heartbeat or something. I mean, not that she's a puppy anyway." Jennie wiggled a pinkie, which Rachel latched onto. "Are you a teacher here?" She asked Nate.

Nathan nodded, smiling. Rachel obviously liked the girl, and he was getting a generally good vibe off her as well. Although she was clearly very troubled by something... "Languages, histories, and occasionally cooking," he said. "Although probably less of everything this fall than I tried last term."

"Really? What languages?" Jennie asked as she wiggled her pinkie more and cooed at Rachel.

"I've done Arabic, Mandarin, and Hindi," Nathan said. "Oh, and some individual tutoring in a few others. I speak fourteen. Not to Doug's standards, obviously, but I can only cheat a little with the telepathy."

Jennie whistled. "Doug's the guy who can speak languages as his power, right? Neat." Jennie paused, thinking. "I keep wondering when someone's going to wake me up. This place, it's so amazing. But I keep thinking there's catch or something. You're a teacher, I mean, is this place really what it seems?"

Nathan gave the question some serious thought. "It's everything it seems," he finally said, quietly, "and a fair bit more. This is one of those places that kind of... reveals itself to you layer by layer." He smiled down at her, and then laughed at the way Rachel squirmed, waving her arms. "If it helps at all, I've been here for about a year and a half, and although I've had a number of surprises, they've been pleasant ones."

"That's good to know. I mean, I'd like to think I'm good with surprised. I've been handling this place alright." She grinned, and then made a face as her stomach rumbleed. "Ugh. I have got to learn how to sleep like a normal person again. I keep missing meals."

"You're not the only person who keeps strange sleeping hours, not to worry," Nathan said, although he made a mental note to check in on this kid in a couple of days and see if she was still doing this. "Do you want to raid the kitchen? There should be food for insomniacs stashed away in the fridge somewhere..." He'd have offered to make her something, but Rachel was squirming.

"Yeah, I think I'll go make myself a sandwhich or something. I'll see if I can't set my alarm for tomorrow or something. Get up for at least lunch." Jennie tickled Rachel's tummy. "Well. I should be on my way. Goodnight Rachel, goodnight, Mr...uh....?" Jennie looked sheepish

"Nathan," he said with a chuckle. "Just Nathan."

"Goodnight Mr. Nathan, then." Jennie smiled, and then wandered off down the hall.