xp_logs | Log: [Nate and Julio]

Nate catches up with Julio before he moves into the mansion. Julio's not exactly very talkative, and Nate is learning not to push.

"-so dislike wearing suits," Nathan said in amusement, loosening his tie as he sat down in one of the deck chairs. Rachel, burbling, yanked at the tether that had carefully been looped around one of the chair's heavy wooden legs, and he gave her a patient look, then looked up at Julio. "Your father would make fun of me. Me, in suits more days than not."

"Mmm," Julio agreed absently. He was concentrating on skipping stones on the lake. The last of his things had arrived the other day, and he was ready to move into the mansion. Which was good, because he was feeling a little suffocated in the boathouse.

"So, I'm guessing you'll be glad to have your own space up in the big house," Nathan said, proving that he didn't actually need telepathy to read minds. At least teenaged minds. "The suites are quite nice, really. Moira and I lived in one for a couple of years before we moved out here."

"I know. I'm getting a roommate as well." Kyle was every American stereotype Julio knew, tall, blonde, and loud. But there weren't a whole lot of options, it was either that or move in with the younger boys.

"You and Kyle should have a good time." Nathan watched Julio, ignoring Rachel's attempts to get his attention. "Something approaching normalcy, or at least what passes for it around here..."

Julio snorted. "This is not so bad. At least no one cleans their guns at the dinner table." He felt a small pang in his chest, he missed Ana. She was constantly yelling at his father to save that for after dinner.

"And it's not like you're more than a short walk away. I can still bring the munchkin to torment you on a regular basis." Rachel looked up with a happy little laugh, clapping her hands as if she knew precisely what her father had just said. Nathan gave her an amused look.

Julio eyed the baby carefully. He never let on that she creeped him out just a little. "As long as she doesn't wake me up any more, I'm sure I will be fine."

Nathan shifted his arm in the sling, wishing again that he could reach inside the damned cast and scratch. The itching was getting ridiculous. "It's hard to believe classes will be starting up in a few weeks. Seems like they just finished."

"Yes well, for me they sort of did," Julio noted absently. He was supposed to have joined varsity this year too, he still kicked around his soccer ball every now and then. Albeit somewhat lackadaisically. "At least there are no uniforms."

"Moira was mentioning that you were going to need winter clothing," Nathan said. "I think you know what that means, I'm afraid."

Oh right, it did get cold here. "Shopping does not bother me," Julio said, as he skipped another stone. "I can dress myself."

"Moira might even believe that. Personally, I think you should do it before she gets any ideas about taking you herself... that way, the matter's resolved." Nathan glanced out at the lake. "It does get quite cold here. Lots of snow, too."

"Excellent. I have always wanted to learn how to snowboard." Snow opened up a new variety of sports that Julio had always wanted to try. With his father's current persona non grata status with several countries, it made it hard for the Richters to travel anywhere out of Mexico.

"I took one of the students ice climbing, last winter. Would you be interested in something like that?" It was an odd, impulsive offer. But something made him think that Julio might appreciate climbing.

"Possibly," Julio replied. He also knew from experience that Nathan could be somewhat undependable. His father had cursed him often enough for blowing himself up.

"We'll have to see if we have the right ice conditions for it anywhere in the area. That's not always a sure thing. The best type of climbing is frozen waterfalls... you get that in the Adirondacks sometimes." This was the equivalent of small talk, Nathan thought dimly. Really, it was.

"Hmm." Julio agreed. lets go for six this time. It wasn't that Julio wanted to be rude, it's just he didn't feel like he had much to say.

Nathan had long since stopped pretending that he had much of an ability to counsel the students through tough periods, even when his telepathy was working properly. He knew better, and he knew that there were some levels of trauma that he shouldn't even touch. It didn't stop him from worrying about Julio being so closed off, though.

"I know it's not time to pick your courses just yet," he said, "but are you going to do self-defense?" That was one of the things that might give Julio at least a sense of being more in control over his own fate.

"Don't know. I know I am in PE, Beginning Cooking, Chemistry and American Literature." The last one should be interesting, his conversational English was improving rapidly but his reading skills were still catching up. Two weeks and he was still only a third of the way through Magneto's biography.

"You can add it, if you want. You maybe should. Or if you don't want to do the class," Nathan said, "you and I can do some private lessons once my arm heals." He smiled a bit wryly. "Your father may be under the mistaken impression that I don't know how to handle an assault rifle, but he's never knocked my hand-to-hand skills. Mostly because I dumped him on his ass a few too many times over the years."

Julio smiled a little at that image. Luis Richter wasn't exactly in the best physical shape. "It's not that hard, really, I beat him all the time." Which is why his father always threatened to shoot out his kneecaps if he did anything stupid. Julio wouldn't put past the old man either.

"He used to be a little more spry. I suspect he's been eating too much of Ana's cooking." That hadn't been a yes or a no, but he wasn't going to push. The seed had been planted, and Julio would decide for himself if this was something he wanted to do. Pushing was, Nathan was starting to understand, counterproductive in some cases.

Julio skipped another stone. It wasn't that he wanted self-defense. What he wanted, needed, were lessons on control. But so far, he had been left to himself all summer. The windows in the mansion had rattled on more than one occasion, and Julio was started to feel tired of being ignored. Although, on the other hand, it was better than all the damn sympathy.

"Powers training should be starting up in the fall, too," Nathan said casually. "I'm wondering who'll be working with you. It's not as if we have a similar power on the staff..."

Julio wondered if any of the staff would be functional in time for school to start. "I don't care who, it would be nice to quit making the house shake. The groundskeeper, Marko? He has threatened to 'punt my skinny ass back over the border' if I did it again."

"I know Moira's run some more tests to try and figure out how your mutation works," Nathan said. "Practical control's something else entirely. I mean, I don't know if yours is a specialized kind of telekinesis, or what the closest parallel would be. Whether you're closer to someone like Ms. Munroe's abilities - you both manipulate natural forces."

That was something to think about. "Ms. Munroe controls the weather, yes? I can't, explain it exactly right now. But I feel, I don't know, connected? To the ground."

"You know who you ought to be talking to," Nathan said suddenly. "Lorna. Not because she has similar powers, but because that's what she studies."

"Geology? Hmm. Again, probably." To tell the truth, he'd slept through most of his geology classes. They seemed to all be about what rock came from where and how old it was. Studying dirt was so boring he'd wanted to shove a pencil in his ear. Although now, he figured he should do as much reading on geology as he could.

Nathan made a mental note to talk to Lorna about it. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? Oh, right. Lobotomy. He caught himself smiling wryly, and Rachel was suddenly at his knee, holding out her hands to be picked up. He leaned down and pulled her up onto his lap.

"All sorts of interesting things," he murmured. "We'll see. I'll talk to her soon about it, I promise."

Julio nodded and skipped another stone. "I'd appreciate it. Really."

"You may find yourself with all kinds of reading to do," Nathan said, and then blinked at Rachel as she smacked him in the jaw. "What? Hungry?"

"Mah."

"One last dinner with the creepy baby who flings her food in highly unconventional ways?" Nathan suggested to Julio.

Julio rolled his eyes. "That is one thing I will not miss." He shot Rachel a Look. "Dinner, then?"

"Don't listen to Julio, he's really very fond of you," Nathan told his daughter as he got up.

"Heeheehee!"