xp_logs | Buzkashi: Paper Trails (Reply)

Nathan and Bobby decide to try and make use of their 'day off' in Asadabad and see if they can talk their way into possession of hard copies of any records on child disappearances in the area.

"I should've brought us local clothing," Nathan murmured as he and Bobby made their way down the crowded street towards the police station. "But I suppose it's a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. We couldn't quite pass, even dressed properly, and at least this way we don't look like we're trying to." He was far taller than the norm in this part of the country, and Bobby's coloring was all wrong.

Nathan couldn't stop himself from looking somewhat nervously around as they continued down the street. "Let's try and be quick and efficient about this," he said. "The less we have to do with the authorities around here, the better. Elpis isn't registered with the Afghan government, we don't have much of a legal leg to stand on in this country." Yet. He was really going to have to do something about that.

"Yeah, but I'd feel a little less stand out-y if we were," Bobby muttered, trying not to meet anyone's eyes. Inconspicuous they weren't. "You want me to do anything, or should I just follow your lead, let you do the talking?" He shoved his hands into his pockets, trying not to show how on edge he was. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

"Watch my back while I do the talking," Nathan said, and it didn't sound facetious. "If I make some progress and get us some records, we can go through them together. I'm not anticipating the police getting hostile, but stranger things have happened in this country." To me. "And I'm not precisely in the position to defend myself particularly well at the moment." He tugged irritably at the strap on his sling.

"Will do, boss," Bobby said briskly, nodding. He could watch Nate's back, although he hoped and prayed in the back of his mind that it wouldn't come down to using his powers. He glanced over at Nate's arm and smiled faintly. "How's it healing?"

"I shouldn't bitch. It's mending faster than anyone who's not got a healing factor should logically expect." Nathan's smile was a bit wry as his gray eyes flickered sideways to meet Bobby's. "The damned cast still throws me off-balance, though. Too heavy. I think I've broken my quota of bones these last two years. Next time it's someone else's turn."

"I'll pass," Bobby answered with a small grin. "Not interested in letting the docs torture me, thanks." He nearly ran into a couple of small, dark-skinned men talking rapidly in a language he didn't understand and quickly detoured around them, jogging to catch up with Nathan again. "So, you think we'll get what we need?" he asked, voice quieter, more serious.

Nathan didn't answer for a moment. "I think we've got a good shot at getting enough information to start pushing the issue back home, if it turns out to need pushing," he said finally, sounding dissatisfied. "With the UN, I mean. It's indirect and entirely too slow, but this sort of thing has to be. What we need is political pressure to encourage the authorities here to enforce their own laws. Slavery isn't legal in Afghanistan, even under its current government." He could have inserted a whole lecture here about Pashtun customs and the culturally-dictated weakness of the central government on matters like this, but Bobby had read all the background material, so it would be redundant. And he wasn't that fond of the sound of his own voice.

Bobby nodded, repressing a shudder. He hoped they could do something, slow or not. He really preferred the clean-cut, go in and kick the bad guys asses and go home knowing you made a change style of the X-Men, but muscle and firefights didn't always accomplish goals, he knew. Sometimes you had to play bureaucrat. "So let's play," he muttered under his breath, flexing his fingers anxiously.

"Don't blink," Nathan said, noticing the twitching. "Watch your body language, I mean." His voice was calmer, soothing. "Think... level, respectful, determined but not pushy. Remember what I was saying at the airport about being careful not to give offense while standing up for yourself being the right way to get along with these people." He smiled crookedly. "You'll do fine."

Bobby blew out a frustrated breath of air and nodded, forcing his hands to relax. "I got it. Don't worry." He was doing enough worrying for them both, anyway.

"I'm not, actually," Nathan said, reaching out and giving Bobby's arm a brief, reassuring squeeze as they reached the front of the police station. "Time to go work some magic. But if I hand you documents and tell you to run, don't look back." He grinned, just a little mischievously. "Kidding."