xp_logs | Sooraya and Nathan

Nathan is contemplating food in the boathouse when some appears, carried by a worried Sooraya. She gets him to eat, he tells her a little of what happened in Prague.

He hadn't even gone into the office when he'd finally gotten back to
the boathouse. On the other side of the partitions, the lights were
off, and as far as he was concerned, they could stay off. For now, at
least. Nathan moved restlessly from the living room to the kitchen -
nothing much in the fridge, of course. He remembered cleaning it out
prior to leaving to Prague. I suppose I ought to go
grocery-shopping.

Sooraya still wasn't exactly sure what to make of Lorna - she
sometimes seemed a little too high-strung for the Afghan girl's tastes
- but one thing the green-haired woman had taught had stuck with her.
People in times of trouble seemed to forget to eat, and the bringer of
food was usually welcomed, or at least not turned away. Knowing that
Nathan had finally returned to New York, Sooraya had hastily prepared
the largest, most nourishing meal she could carry and hurried down to
the boathouse, hoping to catch him before he went to bed. Everyone
needed to eat, and Sooraya for one needed to reassure herself that
Nathan was really all right.

Nathan was staring at the sink, wondering vaguely about pots of water
and pasta when he heard the door open. He looked over his shoulder,
and smiled a bit uncertainly as he saw Sooraya. The smell of food hit
him just as he registered how laden down she was. "I don't know how
you made it down here carrying all that," he said, coming over to help
her.

"I am more strong than I look," she informed him, nevertheless
gratefully letting him take the tray of food from her so that she
could more easily set the jug of juice on the countertop. "I hope you
are hungry?"

"I--" Nathan paused, then shook his head a little. "I should eat,
probably, you're right." There had been oatmeal prior to leaving Muir.
He thought. "It was very good of you to bring all of this down here,"
he said, setting the tray on the table and trying to smile again. "I'm
glad to see you. I missed you while I was gone."

"Yes. I missed you too." It was almost amusing the way she watched him
closely, making sure he sat down and picked up his napkin before
shuffling over to pour him a glass of juice. "You were gone very long.
It was dangerous where you were?"

She would have seen some of the news coverage, most likely. And it
wasn't like he was all of a sudden going to start lying to her about
things. "It was," Nathan said after a moment, and made himself take
some vegetables from the tray. "We were careful, though... as careful
as we could be. A lot of people needed help, and we did what we
could." Not much. Just like Mystique said.

"I know." Sooraya watched him a moment longer, nudging the plate of
fresh-made bread towards him before taking a seat at the table as
well. "I know that you helped many people," she said with a small
smile, looking at him fondly. "As always you do."

He didn't know if he really deserved trust of the sort he could see in
Sooraya's eyes when she looked at him, but the one thing he knew for
sure was that he never wanted to prove her wrong. Nathan took a deep,
slightly unsteady breath, and reached for a piece of bread.

"Angelo and Rahne and Medusa helped too," he said. "As much as I did."
Or more. "It was very... it was frustrating, not to be able to
do more."

"I think you did not want to leave," she observed, tilting her head
slightly to one side. "You will go back, some time? To help more?" She
didn't want him to go, obviously, but she knew that trying to keep
Nathan from a situation that needed his help was like trying to keep
Kyle from making tiny animals out of his food.

"I don't know." Nathan swallowed, his throat oddly tight at the
thought. "I hope so? Or that I find some way to help from here..." He
tore the bread almost meticulously in half, then into quarters. "It's
hard to know what to do next right now," he said, exhaustion creeping
into his voice despite his best effort to keep it out. "Maybe I'll
have some better ideas in the morning."

"I hope you will not go soon." Or at all... not if it meant that he
would come back tired and obviously shaken as he was. "~The food works
best if you eat it,~" she reminded him gently in Dari, watching him
shred the bread into pieces. "~Even if you are not hungry, please try
a little. It will help you sleep more restfully.~"

Nathan actually shuddered at the idea of trying to sleep. What little
he'd gotten on Muir the previous night had been disturbed by
nightmares worse than anything he'd had in months. But he struggled to
smile, and made himself eat the bread. Sooraya would fret, otherwise.

"~I don't mean to not appreciate all your hard work.~"

"~It is not about me,~" Sooraya said, shaking her head. "~But Doctor
Moira will not be happy with you or me if I don't make sure you eat. I
think you will be glad of it later, even if you're not now.~"

"~So much common sense. Why do all the women around me have so much
common sense?~" It was almost a teasing tone. Not quite, but almost.

"~Because we must, to make sure you are well enough to go and save the
world again.~" Sooraya beamed at him, hands folded neatly in her lap.

Well, at least she hadn't said 'Because you have none'. Then again, of
all the women in his life, Sooraya was probably the only one who
didn't take a fiendish glee in stomping delicately on his pride.
I'm sure she'll get over that... Nathan caught himself smiling
back at her - but made sure he kept eating.