xp_logs | Nathan and Medusa, Dinner in Attilan (Backdated to yesterday)

Nathan comes to see Medusa per their plans. They spend a time catching up - some things have changed, others have not.

The palace was about as impressive as he'd suspected it would be, if
in a restrained and thoroughly elegant way. As the funny little man in
the uniform - Nathan wasn't sure what his job title was, and he wasn't
going to ask - led him towards where Medusa was presumably meeting
him, Nathan studied his surroundings with keen interest that was
mostly a mask for the internal debate over what he was going to do
when they got wherever they were going.

He didn't want to do anything embarassing to or with the Queen of
Attilan, but he wasn't entirely sure he was going to be able to
restrain himself. His lips twitched in a quickly repressed smile.

Medusa rose to her feet as a guard knocked on the door and Nate was
ushered in and announced. She smiled, bowing her head slightly in
greeting. As the door closed behind Nathan, her smile widened and she
made her way towards him. "It is a little strange, seeing you
again...I had thought we would never return."

Nathan didn't respond, one way or the other. Rather glad that the
guard was on the other side of the door, he crossed the space between
them in three brisk stride - and enfolded Medusa in a very firm hug.
"You have no idea how glad I am that Illyana is accident-prone," he
finally said, the smile escaping. "Oh, and that you're alive and well.
And married!" He took a step back, a glint of mischief in his gray
eyes. "Although I suppose that means I'm getting overly forward with a
queen. But I've never been much on manners."

While not relaxing into the hug, the fact that Medusa hugged back said
something about how disconnected the royal had felt from her friends
during the years of isolation. "There has been a lot of change since
the last time we saw one another," Medusa said, her green eyes getting
a mischievous gleam of their own. "But do not worry...I will not
report you for laying a hand on the queen. You get one free pass."

"Oh, too kind. Entirely." Still smiling, Nathan took a second step
back, eyeing the room. "It's as beautiful as you said," he went on, a
bit abruptly. "Not just the palace. The whole island." He refocused on
her, his gaze keen. "Must have felt a little cramped, though, these
last couple of years cut off from the rest of the world..."

"Indeed," the redhead replied, her eyes darkening slightly. "I cannot
wait to leave, though it appears I will not even be able to do that
for some time. But come," Medusa said, gesturing to a table that had
been set up on the other side of the room. "Sit, relax and fill me in
on what has been happening with you and the others I know."

Nathan wisely refrained from any comment about 'gossip', and as they
sat down, endeavored to give her a succinct-yet-informative account of
the last several weeks. "... but Rahne's healing up well," he said
swiftly when he got to that point in the story of the latest Elpis
trip Gone Wrong, before Medusa could react to the news that her fellow
humanitarian-inclined redhead had been shot in Africa. "And, well, the
whole situation turned out well in the end."

"They always seem to do that, somehow, at the end of the story,"
Medusa mused quietly. "Even when you give up on change ever happening,
it does." Medusa looked down at her hands, gracefully clasped together
in her lap. She wanted to express to Nathan her doubts about her
ability to be queen, to remain on the island in a life of service to
her country. It had been her dream until she'd lived it in a time of
total isolation. Suddenly she wasn't so sure...but propriety still
kept her from revealing this to anyone, even Nathan, who she thought
might be able to understand better than most. "I am glad that Rahne
was not injured severely. I hope to be able to spend time with all the
Elpis workers who are here. The work you are all doing is much needed
and greatly appreciated."

"The others will be glad to see you, too, when there's time. We missed
you," Nathan said quietly, not missing the downcast look. He doubted
she'd changed enough in two years to make her response to prying any
more enthusiastic, so he didn't push. "The office hasn't seemed quite
the same without you."

"I have missed it, strange as that may seem. There I could see the
difference I was making. Here...well, here it is more difficult to see
the change I can effect." Medusa's hair flared out briefly before
resettling into gentle waves around her shoulders. "Of course, here
the change is on a grander scale and so takes more time. It must seem
like there has been significant alterations from the perspective of
those outside our little island for the brief time that took place in
your world."

"The island seems to have come through two years of isolation
remarkably well," Nathan said lightly, quite willingly assisting with
the conversational shift. "The measures you took to manage your
resources must have been effective. You do have about half a dozen
mutants who were in need of more specialized medical attention, but
we'll have that covered by tomorrow morning."

"We have some truly amazing people in our nation," Medusa said, her
smile coming more easily. "And we are lucky that we have always
supplied most of our own food items from farms on the island. I have,
however, missed certain things that were unavailable. Chocolate was
very limited."

"I wish I'd known. Could have raided someone's stash at the mansion
before I hopped on that plane," Nathan said, almost teasingly.

"Oh, no need to concern yourself. The day following the island's
reappearance, a box of my favorite kind magically appeared in my room.
I suspect my husband may have had something to do with it, so I did
not alert security," Medusa said, responding to the teasing with a
smile.

"Oh, you have him well-trained already, I see. Kudoes." His smile
faded after a moment into a more serious look. "I was so sorry to hear
the news about your parents, and his."

Medusa bowed her head slightly, eyes closing briefly. "Thank you," she
said. "We were forced to move past it rather quickly and there are
still days I expect to see them. I suppose now that we will be
decreasing our responsibilities we will have the time to mourn them
appropriately."

Nathan reached out and laid a hand over hers. "I never met them... but
I think they would be very proud of you," he said quietly.

Medusa didn't reply, letting a moment pass in silence. "I hope so,"
she finally said. "We have all done the best we could." She did not
count Maximus in the universal we she had used to encompass the royal
family. She still had trouble believing what he'd done, to his own
parents, his brother, to all of them. She'd be happy never to see him
again.

Nathan got the sense that another conversational shift might not go
amiss. He squeezed Medusa's hand gently, then let go. "You'd said
something about dinner?" he said, back to the light tone. "I will
confess to having skipped a few meals these last couple of days, what
with all the running around... I'm sure you're terribly surprised to
hear that."

"Yes, pardon my manners. I believe Yvette and Sooraya, not to mention
Moira, would have my head for not feeding you properly when given the
opportunity," she said, gesturing towards the door. "They have a room
set up on this floor that I generally use to take my meals since
apparently it is inappropriate for a queen to eat at her desk."

"They need a lesson on the beauties of multitasking, I gather..."