Logs: Angelo and Bobby, Nathan and Bobby

[x-coldhands.livejournal.com]

Wednesday evening, Bobby's chilling in their suite when Angelo gets in. There is talk of work and a lack of utensil use. :D


Bobby lounged on the sofa in the suite, watching 'Gone in 60 Seconds' and eating some reheated lo mein right out of the box.

The door opened and Angelo trudged in, shoving the door shut and dropping wearily onto the other end of the couch. He looked blankly at the movie for a few seconds, then turned his head toward Bobby. "Hey."

Bobby sat up, frowning. "Man, you look wiped." He offered the box of chinese food. "Hungry?"

"Yeah." He reached a hand into the box and took some, ignoring the slight messiness. "Looong day."

"Nathan's keepin' you busy, huh?" Bobby wrinkled his nose at him. "You've hardly been around lately, it seems."

"It's not Nathan's fault. 's just, there's so much to do. There's no way we can do it all, but we gotta try an' do as much as we can."

Bobby shook his head, looking sympathetic. "Sounds like you could use some more help."

"We really could."

"Hmm." Bobby looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well. I'm gonna see if there's any wontons left. Want anything while I"m up?"

"Could use a soda, if we've got any." He grinned slightly.

"Coming right up!" Bobby stood and vaulted the back of the sofa, heading for the kitchen for a good old-fashioned junk food rummage.

Thursday afternoon. The next day, Bobby seeks out Nathan to offer a hand. Nathan takes him up on it, after a word of warning.


Bobby reached Nate's office and started to knock on the open door, when he froze and whistled softly. "I think I'm just in time," he quipped, entering the room carefully. "Nathan? Are you in here?" He pretended to peer around mountains of unfiled papers, despite the fact that the object of his search was sitting right in front of him.

Nathan raised an eyebrow, looking up from the newly beefed-up Thailand file. A couple of the Professor's contacts had come through and done so beautifully. "Tee hee," he said dryly. "If you're looking for Angelo I think he got crushed to death when the things-to-do pile toppled. Sorry."

"Right on. Suite to myself," Bobby replied promptly, and grinned. "Actually, he mentioned that you could really use another pair of hands--and I can see he knew what he was talking about." He held up his hands for inspection, an inquiring look on his face.

Angelo had mentioned... Angelo was recruiting? He's taking to this initiative thing far too well. Nathan very deliberately didn't smile. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Mmm," he said. "And you think your hands are up to the job? How much did he actually tell you about what we do?"

Bobby let his hands fall to his sides as he shrugged. "Not a whole lot. But I'm willing to learn--and I'm good with numbers," he added, almost as an afterthought. He didn't know if it'd be of any help to Nate, but he may as well throw it out there.

"Hrm." Bobby had been taking accounting at college, he remembered hearing someone mention that. "We chase things," he said, more briskly. "Rumors. Suspicious behavior. Occasionally wild geese. Officially, I'm playing watchdog for Charles when it comes to mutant affairs in the developing world."

Bobby nodded, all business now. "Do you really need some extra help? Because I'm willing. Even if you just want me to take care of some of this..." he waved an arm at the stacks of paperwork. "I'm tired of spending my days trying to find something to do other than training."

"Drake, I need more help than is realistically available," Nathan said a bit dourly. "I could put as many people as live in this school to work and it still wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough." He looked around for his coffee cup, found it, then grimaced as he sipped at it and found that it was ice-cold. "There are things you probably
need to know before I let myself take you up on that offer. Sit down?"

Cold coffee Bobby couldn't help with. If it'd been a warm coke, maybe... "Sure." He looked around and then carefully shifted a stack of papers from the nearby chair to the floor, sinking into it. "Shoot."

Nathan rubbed at his jaw, blinking rather blearily at Bobby. "I started this," he said, "because of my family. And I don't mean the scarily brilliant Scotswoman and my meglomaniacal daughter."

Bobby looked at him, unsure of what to say. Nathan's family--the family that kept popping up on the team reports, causing trouble. His own family was rather mutant-phobic, but at least they weren't the 'bad guys'. "...Okay."

"Connections keep appearing," Nathan said, more tiredly than tensely. He was feeling much calmer this week, but every time he walked into this office, he felt exhausted just looking at it. "They're not just supervillains, Bobby, my uncle and my father. Even if they kidnap and murder my friends. They work in more subtle ways, too, and they're
thirty years ahead of us."

This was the kind of job Bobby could get into. He nodded in what he hoped was understanding. "So what can I do to help?"

Nathan thought about it for a moment. "Right now?" he asked. "You can do more of what I initially hired Angelo to do. Research, office work. Angelo's turned out to have a real talent for the investigative work, and between doing that and developing the tools to help him do more of that - learning more languages, that sort of thing - he doesn't have
as much time to do the basic work."

"When do you want me to start?" Bobby asked quietly, solemnly.

Nathan slouched a little further in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment. "Tomorrow," he said. "It'll give me a chance to grab Angelo and figure how best to get him to show you the ropes. I suppose I've got paperwork to do, too, so that I can pay you and all..."

Bobby nodded. He wasn't doing this for the money, so much as for something to do, but the less of his parents' money he spent, the easier he slept at night. "Cool Tomorrow, then." He got to his feet, holding a hand out to Nate. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Nathan said dryly, but shook his hand. "Angelo must have told you I'm not always a whole lot of fun to work for."

Bobby grinned faintly and nodded. "I think I can take it."

"Ah, optimism." Nathan released his hand and turned his attention back to the Thailand file. "Angelo will let you know where and when, tomorrow."

"Okay." Bobby headed for the door, concluding that the interview was over, and vaguely excited to get started tomorrow.

"Fresh victims," Nathan muttered, and waved a hand at the door as Bobby walked through it. It closed itself quietly.