xp_logs | Nathan, Moira, and Charles, Wednesday afternoon

Nathan, after having had some time to think things over (between attacks by invisible aardvarks), asks yet again for advice about the contents of Saul's will from two of the people he trusts the most. He has something of an idea, see. Possibly a very good one, but certainly a very complicated one.

"Mmm. Mmm!"

The vaguely ecstatic noises were coming from the red-haired baby sitting on Charles Xavier's lap as she munched happily on an Arrowroot cookie. Nathan traded a grin with Moira, and then winked at his exuberant daughter as those wide gray eyes turned in his direction.

"You're spoiled."

"Mmm! Bah!" Rachel informed him loftily.

Charles chuckled. "Well," he said, smoothing the baby's fine red hair, "it would be inhospitable of me to invite the three of you and neglect to provide something for Rachel. Since she is still somewhat young for tea." Rachel looked up at him and gave him a huge smile before she started gumming the Arrowroot again.

Moira snorted in amusement, reaching over to wipe some crumbs off of both Rachel and Charles. Her sudden thought that she felt like she could mother--and potentially boss--both of them around provoked an amused thought down the link from Nathan and she barely refrained from kicking her husband.

"O' course she'd like the cookie," she sighed, having worn most of Rachel's start on more solid food in her diet with the foods that the growing baby had decided were disgusting. What she liked, she tried to eat, managing to get most of it down. There was also that leery 'Oh my God, she'll be teething soon' worry.

"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with Arrowroots. Is there, munchkin?" Nathan asked the baby fondly. She giggled and waved what was left of the cookie at him. "She tried to eat those papers from the lawyer this morning, actually," he said, then gave Moira a deadpan look. "Do you suppose she's not getting enough fibre in her diet? Or just expressing an early distaste for lawyers? I suppose I'm screwed, if that's the case..."

"Perhaps it was simply that you were paying too much attention to the papers and not to her," Charles suggested, almost whimsically. "Cause and effect are very straightforward in her mind."

At that, Moira snorted slightly. "Us, workaholics? Never." She watched in amusement as Rachel went back and forth from sucking on the cookie to her fist repeatedly. The fist, it seemed, didn't get soggy but didn't taste as good.

"Dinnae blame me if ye find crumbs in yer jacket," she huffed playfully at Charles.

"It's a small price to pay for the pleasure of your daughter's company," was Charles' slightly amused reply. He gazed into Rachel's eyes for a moment, some sort of silent communication passing between them. Then he looked up at Nathan with the same calm smile. "I presume it's the papers in question that you would like to discuss?"

"I'd actually like some advice," Nathan said honestly, leaning back in his chair. "From both of you, since you both have a lot more experience in the field I've just been dipping my toes into this last several months." He rubbed at his jaw, trying to think of how best to phrase this. "Once I got off the instinctive 'I don't want any of this' response to Saul's will, I started thinking about how useful that much money could be in the work Angelo and I have been doing."

At that, Moira looked thoughtful. "Ye could turn it inta a roundabout donation," she mused. "As th' heir ta th' estate, ye could sink it inta yer work like tha'. Beyond tha', th' money would go ta a greater good than wha' it was bein' used for in th' first place."

"That was my thinking." Nathan's expression went a bit distant for a moment before it cleared. "I just feel like if I'm going to take it, it has to be put to good use. And in a way that's going to keep me honest, so that I don't start looking at it as something that's going to let me manipulate things willy-nilly based on whim." He shifted a bit in his chair, looking somewhat sheepish. "It's a weird distinction, I know. I just... don't ever want to wind up like them."

"I believe there little chance of that," Charles said quietly but firmly, his gaze very direct. "But I do understand your concern. You want limits. A way to be accountable to something other than your own conscience." There was something close to compassion in his eyes now. "The sins of the father do not pass to the son along with the genetic inheritance, Nathan. I've reminded you of this before."

"Still," Nathan murmured, looking away. "I'd rather be sure."

Reaching over, Moira squeezed Nathan's hand for a second. "Well, there are ways. If ye donate th' money ta yer operations, ye can set limits o' 'ow much yer allowed ta use, 'ow much goes where. 'Tis called donor restricted funds an' even though ye're th' donor, 'tis still doable." She shrugged. "There are a great many people who start foundations, charities an' nonprofits through themselves, it wouldnae be tha' 'ard."

"I think I'd like to do that," Nathan said, squeezing her hand back. "No, in fact, I know I'd like to do that. Something that could stand on its own... something I could be a part of, but know that there was more to it than just me. If that makes sense."

"It does," Charles said. "Organizing in an official sense, with a solid basis of funding, would also permit you to expand your operations considerably." Rachel plucked at his jacket, and he smiled down at her for a moment. "You are, after all, constantly telling me that you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done."

"Really? Can I get tha' confession on tape please?" Moira grinned at the face Nathan made. "I mean th' Foundation started off much th' same way. Without th' insane family members, mind ye. I know there are different tax rules 'ere... an' yer lottery is weird in tha' they dinnae give ta charity... but it can be done. I'd recommend 'irin' a professional for financial 'elp, though. But th' charitable sector in th' United States is kind o' scary in 'ow big it is."

"If it's a given that it can be, with professional help, I suppose that raises the other question. I'd have the money to expand operations, make things official." His brain was already spinning as he reflected on all the connections he'd already started to make with Charles's help, and how they could be fostered even further if he had the whole weight of an organization behind him. "What I'd need would be the manpower."

"I could recommend a list of potential candidates for a board of directors," Charles said thoughtfully, taking a sip of his tea. Rachel had curled up on his lap, looking quite content. "Some of whom you've met already, Nathan, in your work thus far. All are experienced, and well-versed in mutant issues in the developing world."

A reputable board of directors would go a long way to establishing a good reputation for this hypothetical new organization. Nathan smiled faintly. "I'm assuming both you and Moira would be on that list? I'd need field people, too," he added abruptly. "Angelo's not enough, and although Bobby's said that he's interested..."

"We would need ta make sure there's no conflict o' interest, but if there's not I'd love ta be. I've got some people as well who might be interested an' ye can always forge a partnership o' sorts wit' th' Foundation. As for manpower, ye're currently teachin' at a school tha's about ta 'ave graduation. Ye might ask there, see if any would be interested in comin' ta work for ye." Moira hrmed under her breath. "For any fundraisin', I'd get a professional, but other members dinnae 'ave ta be so grizzled an' well versed. Jus' passionate."

"Just...passionate." Nathan's expression went absolutely blank for a moment. There might as well have been a lightbulb painted above his head. "Oh."

"A thought, Nathan?" Charles ventured, smiling slightly. Rachel, on his lip, flipped over onto her back and blew a raspberry at him.

"I have... some friends, who might be interested." Who might be very interested. And who were currently at loose ends, with some of them very badly wanting something else to do beside what they were doing. Something new. Something... better. He thought of David and the now visibly pregnant Mina, of Ian telling him wistfully that he wanted to do something different, of Gavin wanting to go back to working with kids...

Moira blinked at Nathan, and then smiled behind her hand. It was his idea, after all, and he could say it. "I think yer friends jus' might like tha'," she mused softly, reaching over to tickle Rachel on the stomach.

"The Pack's... been moving away from the mercenary life for a long time," Nathan said to Charles, who probably knew precisely what he was about to say anyway. "Step by step. And Anika and the others... they haven't had much of a chance to decide what they do want to do with their lives. They've just been... filling the gap." He flushed suddenly at the smiles Charles and Moira were directing at him. "Oh, I know there'd be legal concerns with David and the others, depending on where they had to go to work, but they're not wanted everywhere."

And there were maybe ways to mitigate that, he thought suddenly. He needed to talk to David. "And Ani and Ian and Gavin and the other ex-Mistra types... they don't have criminal records, and hell, the government would be thrilled to see them settling down to something like this." Even MacInnis might be interested. If he put it the right way.

"Complications can always be managed, with the appropriate amount of care and planning," Charles pointed out firmly. "And your friends, all of them, have experience that would serve them well in this sort of role. Facility with languages, familiarity with different cultures, contacts in the countries where your operations would be focused..."

"Useful in th' fact they've got their own contacts, nay all o' them on th' other side o' th' law," Moira pointed out. "An' after everythin' tha's 'appened, I think they'd welcome a chance ta settle down." Mina especially.

"So many things to take into account..." His head really was spinning. He managed a smile for both of them. "Kind of exciting, though. Everything it could accomplish..." Nathan laughed a bit hesitantly. "I keep thinking about this line from a sci-fi movie... 'no future but what we make'. I think about that, and about what Askani said to me at the end..." He was doing the trailing off thing again, mostly because there was so much in his head, all fighting to get out. So many possibilities that didn't have a direction just yet.

"You have the belief that you can make a difference, Nathan," Charles pointed out calmly. "You've had that since the day we sat in this office and you made the decision to begin this work." Rachel floated off his lap, cackling softly, and all three sets of adult eyes followed her. "Now, you simply have additional resources."