xp_logs | Nathan and Medusa at the UN, Thursday

Nathan faces some less-positive consequences of his decision to out himself as a telepath. Medusa takes the opportunity to demonstrate her evil streak.

"Joel should have done this himself," Nathan said to Medusa as they stepped out of the elevator. "Just because I speak the language doesn't mean I get along with Chinese bureaucrats." And this wasn't a small Third World country they were dealing with; China was much, much bigger in the grand scheme of things, and Nathan wasn't sure he trusted his diplomatic skills to this extent.

"He would not have sent you if he did not think you were capable," the redhead replied. "You need to start learning to feel comfortable in situations like these. They will arise more frequently as Elpis continues cementing itself as an NGO that other countries want to work with." Medusa herself felt quite comfortable going to a meeting with high level diplomats and representatives. Observing Nathan would not be much different than observing her parents or the Attilani diplomat at work. "They key is to keep yourself in check and be able to talk around something until you get the wording for what you really want to say right in your head."

He shot her an amused look; if there was some trait that all the redheads in his life seemed to share, it was the desire to teach him how to be diplomatic. "I can BS with the best of them, you know. I do have a law degree."

"I do not," she said arching an eyebrow with a twinkle in her eye. "Yet I believe that I can 'BS' as well as you. It takes more than a law degree to know how to do so in these circles." Pausing, Medusa turned to face him. "Not that I am saying your skills are not perfectly adjustable to these situations...but diplomacy takes a finesse that sometimes law does not."

There was a definite twinkle in the gray eyes that met hers. "Just say it. I'm a bull in a china shop, and you all have an uphill battle on your hands when it comes to teaching me manners. Really, I'm fully aware of my failings."

"Why do I need to say it when I can just lead you to state it instead?" Medusa teased. "Getting someone else to say your thought for you is a very useful skill. Then they think it is their idea and the battle becomes downhill."

Nathan gave her a mock-woeful look, then inclined his head towards the conference room where the meeting was to take place. They wouldn't be the only NGO representatives there, and Nathan was in fact rather impressed that Joel had managed to get them an invitation. "We'll get some lunch and do the usual debriefing afterwards," he said to Medusa as they strode together down the hall. "Joel said to pay particular attention to chatter among their aides, so if I look distracted, I'm actually eavesdropping."

"Another lesson you need," she replied as they came to the door of the conference room where the meeting was being held. "How to look enthralled even when you are not paying a bit of attention. I will take excellent notes so you will not miss anything that takes place."

There were two men in suits standing at the door. Nathan smiled briefly, professionally at them. "We're the representatives from Elpis," he said. "Here for the meeting-"

"Mr. Morrow?" one of them - nearly Nathan's own height - asked with a frown.

Nathan nearly frowned right back at him. "That's right."

"We're going to have to ask you to leave, sir."

Medusa kept her own frown off her face, but she felt a vague sense of foreboding. Drawing herself up to her full height, she was tall enough to look the man in the eyes when her heels were factored into the equation. "Sir, if you would kindly check the list, I am sure you will see that Elpis was approved to attend." Flashing a smile at both of the suited men, she projected an air of confidence that had been bred into her since birth. When someone said no, you simply found a way around it.

"Your organization is welcome to attend," the second man said brusquely. "He, however, is not." His eyes flickered to Nathan, something close to outright repulsion in them... underlaid by fear.

Nathan leaned back a little, his features settling into a cool mask. "I see. May I ask why?" He didn't need to ask, he knew perfectly well what was going on here. But the conversation was drawing some attention from other people, passers-by and bystanders alike, and he had no problem at all forcing this out into the open.

"Security issues," was the cool response from the first man.

"I see," was Medusa's equally cool response. "I believe we require a more elaborate answer than that, Mr..." she trailed off, waiting expectantly for him to supply his name. It would be important for them to know who had blocked Nathan from the meeting, so they could later follow the trail and see how high up their problem went.

"Chang. This was the decision of the ambassador. He has our highest security clearance," Chang said frostily, "and takes his responsibilities very seriously. Your presence is not appropriate, Mr. Morrow."

"~They should keep them away from human beings,~" the second security man said disgustedly in Mandarin. "~Or shoot them.~"

"~Someone needs to brush up on his basic biology, I see,~" Nathan replied in the same language, and the man flinched violently. "Yes, I do speak your language," Nathan went on, his patience starting to slip. "No, I did not read your mind."

Medusa may not have understood the words, but the undercurrent in the man's tone was unmistakable. The glare she turned on him was one she had seen her mother use often. It was intended to make the other person feel like they were insignificant and had just made a horrible mistake.

The poor man actually cringed. Chang, however, did not. "Please depart, Mr. Morrow," he said implacably. "The young woman may stay, but you are not welcome."

For a bodyguard, he had a modicum of diplomatic ability himself, Nathan thought dourly. He'd avoided giving an explicit reason quite nicely. "Fine," he said quietly, then looked at Medusa. "I'll see you at the Ambassador Grill in a couple of hours?"

Medusa nodded. They couldn't afford to both miss the meeting, not with all the strings Joel had pulled to allow Elpis the right to have a representative present. "We will get this sorted out," she said quietly, laying one hand on Nathan's arm. "Call Joel and let him know what happened. I will see you at the restaurant shortly." Turning around, she shot a final glare at each of the bodyguards, before entering the room with her head held high.

--

He'd been tempted to have a drink - or three - but he'd stuck with coffee while waiting for Medusa. There was really no reason to be depressed about this, Nathan tried to convince himself. He had expected something like this to happen, sooner rather than later. It would have been extremely naive for him to think that outing himself would get only reactions like the one from the Omani ambassador. In fact, he'd been prepared for the negative reactions to be in the majority.

Didn't make it sting any less, though.

Medusa walked up to the table, her hair cascading around her shoulders as opposed to the tight bun she'd worn into the meeting. "I am glad to see that my mental image of you sitting here with a bottle of whiskey was solely my overactive imagination," she said as she settled into the chair across from him.

He gave her a very dry smile. "When one outs themself as something generally objectionable in polite society, one doesn't get the privilege of weeping, wailing, and getting drunk before 1pm when the inevitable happens. How did the meeting go?"

"As well as could be expected," Medusa said. "Here are my notes," she continued, pushing a notepad over to the older man. "They did not seem that open to outside involvement, but I could not be sure that part of their hesitation with answering my questions was not related to the incident with you." She narrowed her eye, analyzing his face. "And how did not being at the meeting feel?"

"Lousy," Nathan said candidly, taking a quick skim through her notes. "Joel had the decency not to say 'I told you so' when I called. I suppose I should get used to this. It's not likely to be a one-time event."

"No it is not," she said firmly. "And if you ever imagined otherwise, you are not the man I have come to know over these past few months." Medusa paused to place her order with the waitress. "We knew this would happen, yet it still caught us off guard when it did."

"I suppose I could have pushed." He'd been thinking about alternatives, waiting for her. "Made a scene, to make the point."

"And you think that would have helped?" she asked, her voice carefully neutral.

"Possibly. If I'd pitched it properly. Call it a guy thing," Nathan said with a brief twist that might have been a smile. "At the very least it would have caused them to lose some face, and maybe I'm just pissed off, but in hindsight the thought is attractive."

"True, it is a tempting thought. But even you know that we would have lost more in the long run if you had pushed the issue more at that point. We should lodge a formal complaint." Medusa took the diet Coke from the waitress, wishing she were home and it could have been a red wine instead. "And I do not think Mr. Chang will have a job in the States by the end of the month." The smile on her face was grim.

Nathan was pondering the idea of a formal complaint when Medusa calmly pronounced on the unlucky Mr. Chang's fate, and he paused, raising an eyebrow at her. "... what did you do?"

Her smile turned sweet as she made eye contact with him, eyes wide in feigned innocence. "I merely made a phone call lamenting the rudeness of a certain bodyguard to a friend of mine. They were suitably aghast and assured me that such an oversight would never occur again." Taking a sip of her soda, ran her finger around the rim of the glass once she set it down. "I know he was just following an order from higher up, but he relished it."

"My God, you're evil. What is it with redheads?" Nathan's lips were twitching, however, as he picked up his coffee. "I hate to think of what your reaction would have been if you'd known that the other gentlemen was advocating shooting all telepaths in the head or chaining them up like dogs."

"It has nothing to do with the color of my hair," Medusa said with a wink, sending a ripple through the locks surrounding her face as she reached for her cell phone. Pausing at the look from Nathan, she smiled again. "I suppose I could wait until after we eat."