Medusa and Nathan, Monday afternoon

[x-medusa.livejournal.com]

Nathan is surprised, but happy, to see that Medusa has returned. They are both angry, though not at each other, and Nathan has an idea to make the Amaquelins feel more welcome.

Three days. He ought to be calmer than this. But he was still twitchy, anger roiling beneath the surface every time he thought about Logan and Kurt, and that was a bad sign, something that really ought to be more worrisome than it was. Nathan gritted his teeth and poured on the speed, the firebird soaring upwards into the clear blue autumn sky - and then diving towards the lake, wings folded back.

Medusa had been walking - ok, storming was a more appropriate word - around the grounds. Despite wanting to lock herself in her room and only interact with the puppy and her sister, she had forced herself to leave and get some fresh air. She had protested her parents' insistence that she and Crystal return to the school after Logan had basically attacked her sister, not to mention his rude and inappropriate comments to her. Her parents had calmly explained that the matter had been addressed and that this was part of what the girls were to learn and so they had both boarded the jet at the conclusion of the weekend. It did not mean that Medusa had to like it.

A sudden flash of movement pulled her out of her internal thought process and she watched as a giant firebird approached the lake with increasing speed. She continued watching, waiting for it to pull up and soar over the grounds. It surprised her by diving straight into the water and she found herself moving closer to the lake to investigate. As it re-emerged from the water, she began nodding in approval. She rarely saw other people use their powers at the mansion on so grand a scale, which she thought was a real shame.

Water came off the glowing exoskeleton in sheets, and its wings ruffled as if it were a real bird, and a severely irritated one. Nathan spotted the red-haired figure on the shore, however, and his stomach immediately leapt up into his throat.

He hadn't been sure she would come back.

Drifting closer, still in the exoskeleton, he offered a slight, unsteady smile once he was close enough that she would be able to see it through the glow. "Afternoon, Medusa."

Medusa smiled in response, though it was strained and forced. "Greetings Nathan. I should have realized no one else here would be willing to engage in such a display of power and control." She took a deep breath, forcing her agitated hair to wrap itself into braids. It was not Nathan she was angry at - after all, he was one of the few people at the mansion who had not judged her or Crystal. It was why she had informed him of what Logan had said to her; she hadn't known who else would listen. "Though if riday's events are any indication of what happens when other teachers decide to display their abilities, perhaps I better understand why people restrain themselves."

"I don't know what to say." The wings of the exoskeleton folded behind him as he sank towards the shore. As his feet touched the ground, the exoskeleton collapsed, vanishing. "I literally don't," he said, and there was a sort of savage unhappiness in his voice that he didn't even bother trying to hide. "The idea... just the idea that anything like that could happen, here of all places... where students like your sister are supposed to be safe."

"It is not the first time I have learned that particular lesson - that we are only as safe as we make ourselves." Their manifestation had ingrained that lesson in her. Medusa continued to regard Nathan intently, though she was careful to keep any emotion from appearing in her expression. "I do not know that there is anything you could say that would make things better. It was not your behavior that was inappropriate."

"That type of behavior..." Nathan's jaw tightened almost spasmodically, and for a moment he was actually struggling, fighting with too-insistent memories. He shouldn't have watched those videotapes. Logan's tone and body language had been so like... no, he was not going there. "She is all right?" he said, his voice shaking as he shook his head doggedly, trying to shake off the past. "Not hurt, I mean..."

"Physically? She is unharmed. However, I am concerned about her emotional state. She already did not want to be here and this incident had her wondering again about the way this institution is run." It was obvious that Medusa was not talking solely about her sister's thoughts.

The ground trembled beneath their feet, the trees along the lakeshore creaking ominously as they bent under what was not wind, and Nathan closed his eyes, breathing in and out until he got himself under control. "One can hardly blame her. I'm surprised that the two of you came back. Happy," he confessed more softly, opening his eyes and focusing on Medusa again, "but surprised."

"I did not want to," she admitted. "We did not want to return. But after our parents spoke with Professor Xavier, they informed us that we would be coming back." There was no arguing with Ambur once she had made a decision, though Medusa had tried her hardest. "They believe we still have much to learn here, despite..." she trailed off and gestured toward the mansion in agitation.

"I know your sister's been struggling," Nathan said, and the urge to run off and drown Logan was only rising. "I also know she's been trying, very hard. And that she's made friends here... that's the key, you know," he said, his voice softer, more unhappy now. "That's what will let her find a way to be here and learn, and feel like she's benefitting from it. She needs acceptance and kindness so that she can continue to find her own way. Not some jackass with no right to the title of teacher, telling her how she should be behaving and pushing her into a situation that could have ended very badly for everyone."

Medusa's eyes flashed and her hair increased the rate at which it was waving in the air. "I just do not understand why everyone must judge us. If I called them half as many names, they would call me cruel and insensitive. Yet it is ok for them to treat us this way because we are 'spoiled princesses'," she said, disgust clear on her face. She took a deep breath, trying to regulate herself. "Some have been kind, but it seems they are the exception to the rule." She didn't even want to touch the topic of how else the situation could have ended.

Nathan sat down on a fallen log, looking up at Medusa and trying to think of something, anything to say. "When Moira's home next weekend," he said slowly, "you and Crystal should come down to the boathouse and have dinner with us." He smiled a bit uncertainly. "I haven't cooked in a while. I'm a very good cook, actually." It struck him what a non sequitur that was, and he took a deep breath, flushing a little. "That wasn't an attempt to change the subject. I'd like... I'd like the two of you to come. I may invite a few others, as well." Ororo, certainly; from what he understood, she and Crystal had been getting along very well. Jim, if he could convince him, and maybe Cain, too. Rahne and Angelo and Sooraya... Nathan managed not to let the strained laugh slip out. I could have a regular dinner party.

"I can't make up for what happened with dinner, and it's not my place to try, in any case. But I can make the gesture. Something to help prove to the two of you that you are welcome, that there are people here who are happy to have you here and happy to get to know you."

Medusa smiled at him; though her face was still tight, some of the anger had faded. "It will not change what happened, but dinner would be lovely." It will also not change that we are not welcomed by all, but that is fine. It will always be that way. "I do not expect everyone to accept us, but I do hope that everyone can at least manage to be polite." She sighed, turning to face the lake. "These were not the types of trials I anticipated when I moved here."

"I hope..." He wasn't sure what he opened. Nathan sighed again, then offered a smile in return, somewhat tentatively. "I am glad you came back," he said.

"I wish I could say the same," Medusa said. "Though I would have missed our meetings had I not. Please know that when I speak poorly of my experiences here, I do not include our contact in that same category." In fact, she would probably start showing up frequently at the boathouse to help with Elpis just as an excuse to get away.

"I'm glad." There really wasn't much more to be said. There was no way he could wipe away what had happened, but maybe dinner would be a start. Deeds, not words? Nathan rose, looking skyward for a moment before he shook his head. "Work to do," he said. "I shouldn't have been flying."

"We all need to take a break at time," she said. "Is there anything I can help with?" she said with a glance in the direction of the mansion. She was not eager to return to the mansion and had no reason to until Crystal had finished her classes.

"Feel like reading back through several years of records on Czech civil rights cases?" Nathan smiled a bit helplessly. "Or helping me, I mean. I've had them all translated."

"I would be more than happy to help," she replied. "For perhaps an hour or two. I would not want to leave Lockjaw much longer than that. He is a sweet creature, but still just a puppy." And a convenient excuse to return at the same time Crystal finishes.

"I have some hope there might be something useful in them," Nathan said, turning in the direction of the boathouse. Positive experiences. Things to make the two of them feel like they wanted to be here.

Time he put his imagination to use.