xp_logs | Nathan and Kurt, Saturday afternoon

Kurt comes upon Nathan killing the punching bag. They have a rather interesting conversation, and Nathan, in the process, makes a request.

It was a little game he was playing with himself, really. Could he take out all of his pent-up frustration on the punching bag without slipping and disintegrating it telekinetically? Own your rage so that it doesn't own you, Askani had said to him once, and while it sounded like something one might get out of a fortune cookie, there was a certain amount of truth to it. Like most cliches.

The other question that might be asked was, was he occupied enough with the punching bag not to notice the sound and smell of Kurt teleporting into the room?

Not quite, although he wasn't prepared to let that interrupt, or pause for long enough to acknowledge the other man. Nathan hammered away grimly at the punching bag, the look in his gray eyes flinty and somewhat alarming. His hands were hurting already; he ignored the pain as easily as he might have done under full conditioning, years ago.

Temporarily setting aside his own plans for training, Kurt perched on a pile of mats and watched his friend calmly. It didn't quite feel like time to intervene, yet.

It was nearly ten minutes before Nathan stopped, and only because he noticed the blood on the wraps on his hands. "Crap," he growled, breathing hard as he turned away from the bag. Strangely, though, he did feel better. Maybe it was just the physical activity.

That was Kurt's cue to hop to his feet and join Nathan, he decided. "I hope your hands are not badly cut?" he asked mildly.

"I'll live." Nathan pulled off the wraps and took a critical look at his hands. "If nothing else maybe seeing me looking like I've been brawling will convince certain folk at the UN not to be dismissive," he said with a strange little smirk as he went over to get his water bottle.

That answered at least one other question Kurt might have asked. "Ah, I see. You have been hitting brick walls?"

"Not any more than usual. It's kind of par for the course." Nathan burst into a fit of coughing, frowning at himself as it eased. "If I'm getting Ray's cold I'm going to be annoyed."

"You have just been through a great deal of exertion", Kurt pointed out. "A little coughing might be expected."

"Yeah, whatever." Nathan took a sip of his water, forestalling more coughing. "Any particular reason you were sitting there watching me? Tips on my technique you feel like sharing?"

Kurt shrugged. "No particular reason, no. I came to train, but I did not want to disturb you."

Nathan made an indecipherable noise. "Well. You can have the gym to yourself in a few," he said irritably, sitting down on the bench to finish catching his breath. His arms were aching, especially the one that had been broken this summer, and he rubbed at it, the burn scars from the previous year rough under his fingers.

Kurt wandered over and dropped beside him, apparently feeling the conversation wasn't over yet. "We have not talked in person for some time, Nathan. How have you been, frustrations aside?"

"Good and bad, depending on the day," Nathan said with a thin sort of whimsy. "We've made some progress on some fronts, none at all on others... one of these days I'm going to get used to the ups and downs." He tilted his head at Kurt. "How about you?"

"Much the same", was the reflective answer. "Though, I think... more up than down, on balance."

Nathan straightened slightly, managing something closer to a real smile. "That's good to hear, Kurt," he said, more quietly and a touch more warmly. "Amazing what some time to rest and think will do, huh?"

"Time to rest and think was a large part of it", Kurt agreed. "But so was... having nowhere to go but forward."

Nathan gazed at him for a moment - and then bumped his knee against the other man's. "Question for you - a request, actually."

"Any question or request I can answer, I will", Kurt promised.

"I have a daughter who is absolutely convinced that she wants to grow up to be an Olympic level gymnast," Nathan said, gazing steadily at Kurt, "and she's several months too young for the gymnastics class for tots in town. Think you could do anything to help me with that?"

It struck him, sitting there, that he should have asked this of Kurt ages ago. Something positive, something he could do to help a child that didn't have the slightest chance of going bad, of becoming one of those things he flagellated himself for in the end. Not only that, but Nathan knew that asking this of Kurt was the ultimate display of trust, and Kurt knew that. I really should have thought of this before.

Kurt blinked, then very clearly started seriously considering the problem, as he smiled slowly. "I started my training as a tumbler only a little time after I could walk, once the clan were aware of my physical advantages. I think perhaps I remember enough of those early lessons to help Rachel."

Nathan was trying very hard not to grin. "That sounds good. Because she mimics what she sees - Jean projected cartwheels at her the other day, and guess what her new favorite trick is?"

"The cartwheel", Kurt said, laughing. "That must be fun for you."

"Oh, yes, it's a blast. Especially when she does it on the ceiling," Nathan said in amusement, leaning back against the wall behind him -and winding up in the middle of another coughing fit. "Augh."

Kurt glanced at him sideways. "Should you not have had time to recover from your exertion by now?"

"You'd think..." Nathan muttered, trying to catch his breath. "Maybe I am catching something." Or maybe it had been too much exertion. His lungs were badly damaged, after all, and were likely to remain that way for the rest of his life.

"It could not hurt to ask... Jean, if you would rather not face the potential wrath of Amelia."

"Not a bad idea. If Moira catches me doing this she'll march me down to the infirmary herself and then I'm liable to have all three of them nattering at me." He summoned up a grudging smile. "I sound a tad grouchy, don't I?" Well, add to that the fact that you were beating the shit out of the punching bag a few minutes ago, Dayspring, and he probably knows that you're in a bad mood.

Kurt shrugged slightly, with a half-smile. "Just a little. But recent events do give you something of a reason to be."

You don't know the half of it. "I'm having some difficulty unwinding," he said lightly. "I think it's getting better, though. Lack of subsequent crises."

"That does tend to help", Kurt agreed. "Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"Muir." Nathan laughed, still a little out of breath. "Suffice to say, I'm really looking forward to it."