xp_logs | Nathan, Marius and Rachel, Thursday evening

A brooding Nathan and an unhappy Rachel are occupying the sunroom when Marius happens by. There are introductions, and unexpected discoveries for Marius, and Nathan continues to have a lousy week.

"Waaaaaaah...."

It was a quiet wail, as wails went, and interrupted by a great deal of sniffling. Rachel's blue eyes were full of tears as she peered up at her father, waving her little hands almost feebly.

Nathan sighed, taking one tiny hand in his. "I'm sorry, sweetie," he said in a low voice. He was trying to shield her but apparently there was some leakage down the link. "Should have left you in your nursery, I guess..." But she'd been fussy in there, too, so he'd taken her out and down to the sunroom, which was thankfully unoccupied at this time in the evening.

The stars were coming out. Nathan rocked the baby carrier slightly with his other hand and stared out at the grounds, bleakly. Wondering if Remy had left yet, and where he was going.

"Is that your daughter?"

Nate turned to see Marius standing in the door to the hallway, a bottle of water in one hand. The boy nodded in apology.

"Hope I'm not interruptin'," Marius said, cocking his head. "Thought I heard a baby. Got curious."

Boy who eats people! Near Rachel! was Nathan's first, semi-coherent thought. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, telling himself to be rational.

"Uhhhh. Yeah. This is Rachel." Nathan blinked down at the baby. "Rachel, this is Marius."

"Oooo?" Rachel sniffled, and proceeded to prove that at three months old, she had her father and every other practioner of the puppy-dog look beaten hands down.

Marius peered at the girl curiously. He took only a few more steps into the room; babies were all right by him, but he generally preferred them over there. He was never quite sure what to do with them.

"Red hair," Marius noted. "Definitely Moira's kid. Wonder if she'll be inheritin' the vicious right-hook as well." He looked from Rachel to Nate and back again, and grinned. "But she takes after you, too. In more'n looks."

Nathan eyed Marius warily for a moment, then looked at Rachel. #Come on, do something entertaining on cue...#

#Oooooo!# was the telepathic response, projected on a broad-band and followed by a woeful look and another sniffle as she made contact with her father's mind.

For Marius, the effect of the innocent projection had the same effect as an icecube down the back of a shirt. The alien thought voiced in the privacy of his own mind created an instant of acute paranoia, almost agorophobia -- which lasted for the split-second it took for his mutant powers and deductive reasoning to analyze the situation.

The baby is like Mr. Dayspring. Mr. Dayspring is a telepath and telekinetic. Telekinesis is moving things around. So: this must be telepathy.

"Thought most mutants didn't manifest until puberty," Marius said, trying to ignore the fact that a three-month-old had nearly given him a heart attack with a projection he was embarassed to realize had been the infant-equivalent of a sly hello. He tried to find a subtle way to relax his body, which had clenched every muscle it owned at the unexpected burble.

Rachel stuck her fist in her mouth, making a muffled noise, and Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. #Very funny, munchkin.#

#TeeHEEhee!# And he'd be damned, but that was focused much more narrowly and right at him.

"She was actually psi-active in the womb," Nathan said, looking back at Marius. Funny... when he'd come down here, the absolute last thing he'd wanted was conversation. But at least this was a distraction. "Telekinesis and telepathy."

"That must've been . . . interestin'," Marius said. He knelt down to put himself closer to her eyeline, but kept his distance. Now he was Suspicious. "A baby who can read minds and throw things with her brain? Glad I caught her in a good mood."

"Rachel generally likes people. At this point in her young life, at least," Nathan said, more lightly than he really felt. "She's very uncomplicated." The complications would come later. And you will fuck them up. Nathan turned his head away, trying to suppress the wince.

"That's a relief. I was beginnin' to think complication was a bleedin' requirement for mutants." Marius moved his head slowly from side to side, watching her track his movements with her solemn baby-eyes. Oh, she may have been chewing on her fist to alleviate suspicion, but he wasn't fooled. He remembered himself and added, "Though I wouldn't be surprised if those pajamas result in future counseling."

What was it about his daughter that made people suspicious? "They're perfectly nice pajamas. And she likes them." He suspected mostly because they were fuzzy and warm, not because of the kittens on them. Nathan noticed that one of the snaps had come undone and reached out to do it back up.

*Pop.* Rachel blinked at him, and he sighed. "Don't DO that," he said, and fastened the snap again.

*Pop.*

Marius grinned. "I think she just called you on that one, mate."

Nathan rolled his eyes a little, and left the snap alone. Rachel burbled at him and then took her fist out of her mouth, sniffling again.

"Waaaaah...."

"Shhh," Nathan said, a bit gruffly. "I won't play with your pajamas." But she continued to sniffle, a little baby sob, almost a whimper, creeping out every so often.

And she was projecting, again. A wave of confused unhappiness that he knew was building on what she was getting from him. Rachel didn't comprehend frustration, or a sense of futility, or grief. All she knew was that there were shadows in his mind and she didn't like it. Nathan sighed. Damn it, he couldn't even pick her up or it would just make their link more intense.

Marius felt the foreign thoughts brush his mind again, this time distressed. Marius frowned, his confusion and unexpected distress at the shift in mood overshadowing his unease with the projection. "She really didn't like you messin' about with her clothes, did she?" he attempted, suddenly feeling acutely inept. He tried to think of how one went about comforting a baby. It did not yield productive results.

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

Nathan winced and immediately flung his own shields around Rachel. "What was that?" he demanded of Marius, much more sharply than he'd intended.

"WAAAAAH! WAAAAAH!"

It took a moment for Marius to register the question; he was too busy dealing with what had felt like the mental equivalent of walking into a brick wall. It wasn't that painful, but it was unexpected.

"I wasn't doing anything," Marius protested, massaging his forehead and realizing it was doing nothing for the internal tenderness. "But while we're askin', what was that? The telepathic-superbaby equivalent of kicking me in the nose?"

"You scared her," Nathan said angrily, a slightly wild edge to his voice as he picked up his squealing daughter, rocking her as he made 'shhing' noises. He should have stopped to think about precisely why whatever had just happened had happened, been understanding, but... fuck it. He was tired of being understanding. He wasn't in the mood to be understanding.

The boy raised his hands in surrender. "If I did, then I'm sorry -- but I honestly wasn't doing anything." He cast a helpless look at the crying baby, chagrined by the evidence that spoke to the contrary. "Or if I did, I wasn't tryin' to. Maybe she . . . don't know, picked up on something . . ." he shook his head, and managed a weak smile. "Truth, she scared me a bit. Not used to mainlinin' someone else's thoughts. Gettin' a brainful of someone else's emotions . . . it throws you a bit."

"You need to take one of our classes that familiarizes you with telepathy," Nathan said, more crossly than angrily, some of his weariness sneaking through the irritation. "There are too many of us around here to scare you whenever we think in your general direction. Although most of us have better manner than the munchkin here."

Marius nodded unhappily. "Well, a baby -- it's not her fault. Just startled me, is all." He smiled wryly. "Still, as first-encounters go, I could've done worse'n a baby who likes people."

Rachel seemed to be quieting, so Nathan laid her back in her carrier. She snuffled, then stuck her fist back in her mouth. "I'm sorry," Nathan said, not sure who he was talking to, Marius or his daughter. Calm down. He needed to calm down. No letting the munchkin wind him up.

Marius grinned. "No worries, mate. I'm sure it was me. It usually is. Just sorry I ruined her day." He uncoiled from his crouch and hefted his water bottle in a businesslike way. He cocked his head at the little girl. "'Course," he said with a half-smile, "she's also got her mum's ability to make me feel like somethin' isn't usually found topside of a drain down cold, so I don't think she'll be missin' any sleep."

Rachel gave him a disgusted look, and Nathan sighed, smoothing her downy red hair. "Not entirely your fault," he said, then shook his head, irritably, at the buzzing in his ears. Damn it, not now...

Something about Nathan's tone made Marius look up. "You all right?" he asked, noticing the man seemed to have gone somewhat . . . unfocused.

"Fine..." Nathan raised a hand to his temple, gritting his teeth as the muscles in his arm twitched violently. Oh, no. Not doing this again. Especially not around Rachel, who'd gone alarmingly silent, her eyes wide and round as she peered up at him.

Marius might have been new to the nuances of mutant powers, but one look at Nathan was all the information he needed to come to his own conclusions. "Not fine," he said flatly. He glanced at Rachel, then at Nathan. "Should I call Dr. MacTaggart?"

"Give me a second..." Nathan closed his eyes, trying to compose his thoughts into a more solid pattern. Breathe. Biofeedback was an underappreciated art. The twitching in the muscles of his arms settled, the buzzing in his ears fading away. There was a burnt caramel smell in the air that was definitely not normal, but it would go away soon, too.

"Sorry," he said, more calmly, to Marius. "I have these spells."

"So I've heard," Marius replied, still watching him closely. His body had relaxed, but the man suddenly looked exhausted. A fretful noise from the carrier drew Marius' attention, but his alarm seemed unnecessary; she looked far from happy, but at this point he was certain she'd have let him know if something was seriously amiss.

"This something to do with your head-ghosts?" Marius asked, allowing himself to relax a little. The idea of Moira's expression upon discovering her husband required another visit to the Medlab after another encounter with Marius had not been pleasant.

"No," Nathan murmured, not even hesitating on the lie. "I'm epileptic," he said, forcing himself to give Marius a faint smile. "Too many concussions. Hazard of the occupation."

Marius stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "Well," he said after a moment, "that would explain why you ended up marryin' a doctor."

"Yes," Nathan said, a bit of a bite to his tone, "that's precisely why I married her. To patch me up when necessary."

Marius smiled; it couldn't be too bad if Nathan still had the energy to be irritated. "Actually I was suggestin' that from all I've heard doctors are probably the only lot you're likely to meet, but I can't knock you for practicality."

One could have called the glower Marius got then impressive. One would have been understating the case by a significant degree. In fact, it was not a glower, but a glare. A thousand-watt, deadly, 'I can kill you with my brain and am currently liking the idea a great deal' sort of glare.

In the baby carrier, Rachel giggled suddenly.

Marius laughed. "Sorry, mate . . . hate to say it, but the bubble-blowing infant in kitty pajamas next to you is really messin' with the intimidation factor."

He was a special kind of annoying, this kid. Really was. Nathan rose, a little unsteady, and picked up the baby carrier. Rachel cooed at him almost soothingly, and he sighed, eyeing Marius for a moment. "I need to take her Highness back upstairs, it's getting late."

The boy nodded. "If she's anything like her mum, I'd just as soon avoid makin' her cranky." He let the smile slip as he met Nathan's eyes again. "Sure you're all right now? You look a bit shaky yet. Fearsome as Her Majesty may be, think I could bring myself to shoulder the other half of her litter." As startling as the telepathic intrusion had been, Marius found he was serious. He didn't normally have much use for babies, but he didn't like the idea of the happy, burbling mind he'd felt getting hurt.

Nathan opened his mouth and then closed it again. "I wouldn't mind the help," he said quietly. "Just in case." The episodes didn't usually come one right after the other, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure he couldn't do anything like drop the baby carrier. That wasn't the way he wanted to find out whether his daughter could levitate.

The grin returned. "Beauty. I'm still tryin' to work off trashin' the Medlab, an' I figure lookin' out for Her Majesty wouldn't be unwelcome anyway." Marius glanced down at Rachel, who burr burr'd as she regarded him with a look of distinct superiority.

"An' don't think this means anything," he told her, taking one corner of the carrier. "I just don't want to upset the lady in charge of the pharmecuticals."