xp_logs | Bobby and Nathan, Sunday around 3 pm

x-coldhands.livejournal.com posting in

Nathan makes Bobby a job offer. Another one.

The books cradled in the crook of his arm, Nathan opened the office door - and froze, an odd, crooked smile tugging at his lips as he saw who was inside hard at work. "Oh, and now I suppose you'll be expecting me to pay you overtime," he said dryly, coming the rest of the way in.

"Nah," Bobby mumbled, flipping through pages, sorting and organizing them. He glanced up and gave him a weak smile. "Consider it me making up for my time off."

"Ah-hah. I was kind of wondering about that." Moving a bit gingerly, Nathan came over and lowered himself down into his chair with a sigh. "I think I've been moving around too much today," he said, setting the books on his desk. "Still sore..."

Bobby rolled his eyes faintly and said nothing. He wasn't thrilled about what Nathan had put Angelo--and the rest of them, for that matter--through. "I think there are some files missing from this one," he said instead, pushing a manila folder toward Nathan. "I'm keeping an eye out for them." Business related. Much safer.

Nathan reached out and took it, not missing the eye-roll. He skimmed through the folder. "Yeah, the reports from '90 through '95... I wonder what happened to them," he said with a frown. "Maybe Angelo had them out reading them... although he's usually pretty good about putting things back."

"They probably just got stuck into the wrong folder. There were more important things to worry about," Bobby replied, tone vaguely chiding. Yes, you.

"I heard that," Nathan murmured, not looking up from the folder.

I meant you to, Bobby thought, standing up to move to the file cabinet with a stack of folders in his arms. "Anyway, I'll just leave it out for now, and try to turn up the missing files. Just thought I'd mention it, in case you'd seen them."

Nathan shook his head a little. "Hadn't, but I'll keep an eye out." He leaned forward and winced at the stab of pain in his chest. One hand lightly pressed against his ribs, he concentrated hard on the pile of files sitting atop one of the filing cabinets. They wobbled, floating up into the air - and promptly falling. "Shit!"

Bobby spun around and gave Nathan a Look. "Now I'm charging you overtime," he grumbled, crouching to pick up the paper that had spilled to the floor out of the top few folders when they landed. "What the hell was that for, anyway?"

"I didn't-" Nathan stopped, wincing, and rubbed at his eyes. "Accident," he said with a grimace. "All of that synching Gideon was doing to me... it strained my powers, and I didn't even think... how often do I have trouble levitating files across to my desk, damn it?" he said somewhat plaintively.

"...Do you really want me to answer that?" Bobby said with a small grin, grabbing the files and carrying them over to Nathan the old-fashioned way.

Still grimacing, Nathan leaned forward in the chair, a grunt of pain escaping him. "I do so much automatically... I suppose I should be glad it wasn't something that held liquid." He mustered up a faint smile as Bobby set the files down in front of him. "Thanks."

Bobby looked at him for a minute. "Just...take it easy for a few days," he suggested. It wasn't as if Nathan wasn't used to injuring himself on a disturbingly regular basis. "Anything else you need before I take off?"

Nathan gave him a long, thoughtful look. "Yeah... sit down for a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something."

"...Sure." Bobby sank into one of the chairs across from Nathan. "What's up?"

"First of all, this isn't about any of the work that you've missed," Nathan told him, "I swear. I'm just honestly curious. I know you took this on because you were at loose ends, and it was an opportunity... but are you happy doing it?" He smiled a bit crookedly. "Well, no, let me rephrase that. Is it interesting you, or it is just filing and photocopying and all to earn some extra cash?"

Bobby shrugged. "It's interesting enough, what I know of it. I try not to be too nosy," he answered with a small grin.

Nathan coughed - once, and tried not to grind his teeth as his ribs protested. "There's a lot of it to do," he said a bit hoarsely. "You've been a big help. Suppose I'm just wondering if you'd maybe like to do more."

"Sure. It's not like I have anything else going on, other than training," Bobby said easily. "Like what?"

"Well... travel, when and if it comes up. Keeping me company at some of these meetings, since Angelo's gotten to the point where he's off doing things on his own. It could be a lot of things," Nathan said, "but I didn't want to push you to do any of them if you weren't interested."

Bobby sat up straight suddenly. "Really? I mean...that'd be great. Heck, yeah." He grinned. Now things were getting interesting. Filing was all well and good, but.

Nathan smiled back, a little tired, but sincerely. "Oh, good. Enthusiasm. We like enthusiasm." He started to sift through the pile of files slowly. "Like I said, not sure what shape this'll all take yet." His own choice of words appealed to him, suddenly. "But if you're willing to be part of it, I'd certainly be glad to have you."

"Absolutely," Bobby said without hesitation. "Just...lemme know what you need from me and when, man."

"Good." Very good. He had this odd nagging feeling as he looked around his office that he had to make sure this was the start of something, not the end of something. "Right now, before you head out, I could actually use a coffee." He waited for Bobby's expression to change and then smiled crookedly. "Kidding. Really. The filing can wait - go out and enjoy the fresh air or something. I'll drag myself back to my suite before Moira misses me."

"All right." Bobby smiled and got to his feet. "Take care of yourself, though." His face changed, becoming wistful. "Upsetting a redhead can be dangerous."