xp_logs | Nathan and Angelo (Reply)

Angelo finally checks back in with his boss to get more work. Nathan points him in a new direction, and some more planning is done.

Nathan had been home for two days, which meant he was probably well enough for visitors, especially since no one had said otherwise. And Angelo had run out of work. So he headed up to the suite to ask what he should do next (and check up on Nathan, of course).

Nathan heard the knock at the door and looked up from the lecture outline he was trying to compose, frowning a little. "Come in?" he asked hesitantly. Angelo. That was Angelo. After he'd pushed too hard while out with Alison yesterday, he'd started getting this... static, for lack of a better word, even when he tried to just passively receive telepathic impressions. Painful static, too.

Angelo put his head round the door with a tentative smile, suddenly unsure if Nathan was up to visitors after all. "Hey."

"Hey. Come on in," Nathan said, his eyes flickering to the closed door of the nursery. "But keep your voice down. The munchkin's sleeping." He leaned back in his chair, taking a deep, uneven breath and shifting his arm in the sling as he regarded the very uncertain-looking Angelo. "I haven't started biting visitors, you realize."

The smile got more confident. "I know. Just wasn't sure if you were up for it. How're you doin'?"

"Oh, fine. Sore, but I'll be back to keeping my regular schedule before you know it," Nathan said calmly. He was wearing another dark, long-sleeved shirt, more than sufficient to hide the bandages over the burns.

Angelo nodded, having no idea that the burns were there. "Cool. I did all the work I had before."

"I figured you probably had. It's not as if I was planning to be away or had the opportunity to leave you a to-do list," Nathan said, mustering a slight, wry smile. He swung his chair back around to face the desk, picking up a file off one particular pile and then turning again, extending it to Angelo. Hoping he wouldn't wonder why he wasn't just floating it over.

He did wonder, a little, but then Nathan was obviously still recovering, and it wasn't like the file was out of reach. "What's this?"

"Something new." He'd caught the flicker in Angelo's eyes, but so long as there weren't any actual questions, he was fine. He was after all trying to minimize the actual lying. "Mutant-oriented medical aid group in China. I'm trying to figure out whether it's government-funded or not... that's just background, though. I'd like you to see what you can dig up in terms of news coverage, or references in the annual reports of any of our core list." The 'core list' were the forty-six major NGOs based out of North America and Western Europe who were concerned with mutant affairs.

Angelo nodded. "Sounds straightforward enough. I can do that."

"Good. My meeting in the city before I had my little accident didn't come up with anything useful on DRMA, unfortunately. Although the guy's going to call me if he turns anything up." Nathan shifted in the chair, trying not to wince. Sitting up hurt. Lying down hurt. Everything pretty much hurt, so it was a lose-lose situation anyway you cut it. "I still want to keep that file open. Have a few more ideas for contacts I could make..."

"You need me to get in touch with any of them for you? 'Til you're healed?"

"Nah, it'll have to be me. These contacts are going to need credentials, so I'll have to drop Charles' name shamelessly." Nathan tried to smile again. "You'd be surprised at how many doors it opens. Or maybe not."

"He's a good guy to know", Angelo agreed cheerfully.

"Just look into that for now," Nathan said, looking at the file. "That should take you a few days, I'd think."

Another nod. "Okay. I'll bring it back to you when it's done."

There was a muffled sleepy yowl from the nursery, and Nathan hesitated, listening for a moment. Nothing further, though, and he relaxed. "Oh thank fuck. I just got her to sleep."

"Is she not sleepin' easily?" Angelo asked with some concern.

"Not particularly, but that's not surprising, given the week she's had. She's starting to settle again, though. Now that I'm back and Moira's a little less tense."

"Ah, yeah, it must've been hard on her. Too little to understand, an' all... I'm still around to babysit, if you ever need it."

"I may call on you for diaper-changing help," Nathan said wryly. "Little hard to do that with one arm."

Angelo grinned. "Hey, if that's what you need, I did offer."

"Good man. I'm trying to do as much as I can without having to bother Moira, obviously..." He had distracted her quite sufficiently this week. "I'm not sure Rachel quite gets why I'm not picking her up as much."

"Well, no, she wouldn't. She's the centre of the world, after all. An' too little to be explained to."
"I wonder how fast they actually grow out of that," Nathan said a bit sardonically, then sighed. "Ignore me."

Angelo eyed him. "Havin' problems with someone else?"

"No," Nathan said, and it wasn't entirely a lie. "Just being misanthropic. I get that way when I'm in pain."

"Fair enough. Want me to let you get some rest?"

"I've actually got to go shuffle down to the medlab to get... for a check-up," Nathan said. "But yeah, you should go get started on that. Make up for the unintentional vacation," he murmured wryly.

Angelo nodded. "Okay, then. I'll see you in a few days."