xp_logs | Medusa and Nathan, Wednesday morning in the boathouse

After her sister suggested a much needed vacation, Medusa returned to New York. She spends her first morning back talking with Nathan about how her new life isn't exactly what she expected.

Medusa stood outside the familiar door, pausing as her shifted from
the door knocker to the knob and back again. After having volunteered
for Elpis for over six months, she shouldn't have felt hesitation -but
she hadn't been back to the boathouse in years, at least from her
perspective. Sure, she'd been back to the school and visited with
Nathan and her other friends since the island had returned, but she
hadn't actually been back to the boathouse since her last day
volunteering for Elpis. Finally, she reached a decision, a strand of
hair reaching out to grasp the door handle and turn it.

Inside, Juliette looked up, a smile of genuine pleasure crossing her
face. "Medusa? It's so good to see you." There was no
self-consciousness in the other young woman's use of her first name,
although her lips pursed briefly immediately afterwards, as if the
thought of the missing honorific had just occurred to her.

Nathan, on the phone, had sensed Medusa coming up the path - or
rather, sensed a particular patterned spot of silence in the psychic
atmosphere - so he wasn't taken by surprise by her sudden appearance.
He was, however, smiling - if somewhat distractedly, as most of his
attention seemed to be taken up by the conversation he was having.
Whatever language he was using, it sounded halting coming from him,
which was unusual.

Medusa nodded at Nathan and made quiet small talk with Juliette while
waiting for him to get off the phone. She began to relax slightly, her
hair floating around her face with the ends swaying slightly. If
Nathan was struggling through a language, it was probably for
something important and she couldn't help the curiosity she began to
feel.

Nathan concluded his conversation, tripping a little over his phrasing
but smiling more widely as the person on the other end of the phone
just chuckled and corrected him before promising to call again by the
end of the week. He hung up the phone and raised an eyebrow at Medusa,
still smiling. "Well, this is a surprise. A great one, mind you..."

"I did not make a formal announcement that I would be arriving. Only
Crystal knew, as I came at her suggestion." She paused, another
hesitation that was uncommon to the royal. "It seemed time for a
vacation," she finally said, her hair beginning to sway at a faster
rate. "How have things been here? Crystal informed me of
the...excitement that recently occurred."

Nathan snorted softly and rose, heading over to the small sitting area
in the office and inviting Medusa to follow with a wave. "Excitement
is one way to put it. I think things are settling reasonably well - we
still have some walking wounded hobbling around, but everyone's
healing." He paused at the coffeemaker, pouring himself a cup.
"Coffee?" he asked.

"Please," she said, extending a tendril of hair. "I am hoping it is
still some of the quality coffee I replaced your stash with while I
was volunteering here." Pulling the cup that Nathan handed her towards
her, she sniffed it gingerly, taking a sip after it had passed some
internal test.

"You gave me a taste for it," Nathan teased, then settled himself into
a chair. "It's great to see you," he said. "I was beginning to think
they were never going to let you back out of Attilan - not that I can
blame them, given your current status and all."

Medusa perched gingerly on a chair opposite Nathan, taking another sip
of her coffee before answering him. "I had begun to wonder whether
they would let me leave again as well. However, I realized I needed
to, though for very selfish reasons."

"You mean, they didn't surgically remove your awareness of your own
needs when you put on the crown? Do you have a crown?" Nathan asked,
giving her an innocent look.

He would've pulled off the innocent look, if not for the teasing
evident in his eyes. "Several in fact. They have to match my outfits
after all," she said, a slight quirking at the edges of her lips. Her
face quickly settled back into a more distant expression and she
dropped her eyes to her hands clasped in her lap. "I am trying to be
happy. Every girl dreams of marrying the handsome prince and living
happily ever after and that is what I know I am supposed to do." It
was just that no one had ever told her what to expect after the
happily ever after. The movies and stories all ended at that point,
yet Medusa found herself faced with a new beginning, one that she
didn't quite know what to do with.

Nathan smiled, but the look in his eyes was more serious than it had
been. "What do you think is missing, then?" He didn't doubt that she
loved Blackagar - that had been blatantly obvious from the first time
he'd heard her talk about him. But she was young for this sort of
responsibility, however long she'd trained for it, and now that
Attilan had rejoined the rest of the world and she had more options
than she'd had during the years of isolation...

She thought for a moment before answering, trying to figure out a way
to explain the hole she felt. "Freedom maybe. The ability to make my
own mark." She paused, her hair setting her coffee cup down on a
nearby table. "With the transition back to democracy...well, my role
is becoming more static. Occasionally, I can still influence a
decision, but it is becoming more and more rare. The prime minister
listened to my suggestion of hiring Pietro...but generally I am asked
to attend things, wave my hand, cut a ribbon and pose for a picture.
It is not as fulfilling as I thought it would be. Not like the
beginning of the reign, though I do not wish for that situation to
ever occur again. Or even when I was volunteering for Elpis...to see
that what I did had a greater purpose to it."

Nathan looked down into his coffee cup, thoughtfully. "Members of
royal families tend to do a lot of charity work," he pointed out after
a moment. "Sometimes really significant stuff. Think of Diana and the
landmines."

She nodded. "I know. There is quite a history of royals engaging in
public service of some sort. It is a tradition I would like to
continue."

"Sounds like a good solution, then," Nathan said with another smile.
"I mean, there are plenty of organizations I'm sure would welcome your
- oh," he said, finally putting together why the suggestion
didn't seem all that novel to her with the fact that she was here. He
raised an eyebrow. "You are of course familiar with one of those
organizations already," he said dryly.

Medusa ducked her head to hide a small smile, her red hair flaring out
slightly. She was beginning to wonder if her hints were ever going to
bear fruit. "Elpis is quite well respected."

"In certain circles," Nathan said wryly, thinking of some of his
recent battles. "I won't lie to you, 'Scarlett', I'd love to have you
back. But I suspect it would have to be on different terms than the
last time - you can't be here on a daily basis to do research, for
example. Also," and his voice grew more serious, "Elpis can't afford
to be too closely associated with any given government. The whole N in
NGO thing."

"I could not even offer to be here on a daily basis," Medusa said, her
hair hanging limply for a moment before beginning to sway in the air
again. "I do have responsibilities I am not willing or able to
abandon. However, whatever I can do...I would like to, if possible."

"Well, you could do research, still," Nathan said thoughtfully,
"just in Attilan instead of here. The beauties of teleconferencing. As
for what you could do off-island - you could make it
project-specific?" He smiled a bit, although the expression was oddly
tight. "We've got some new stuff on the go. I could probably use your
clear and objective head."

Medusa nodded, a strand of hair already pulling her coffee cup back
towards her lips. "We can try it and see if it works. If you find it
is not beneficial, please tell me...I understand the hoops of
bureaucracy rather more personally now. However, if possible...well,
it is an understatement to say that I have missed Elpis. I would love
the opportunity to get re-involved."

"We've missed you too. I've been undiplomatic in all kinds of alarming
ways since you left." There was a snort from the direction of
Juliette's desk; Nathan ignored it blithely. "Seriously, though, we'll
make it work. Obviously there are some complications, what with your
royal status, but we can talk to Joel about how best to manage that if
you want."

The edges of Medusa's lips lifted upwards into a small smile. "That
would be lovely." Settling more comfortably into her chair, Medusa
continued. "And now that we have gotten business out of the way, tell
me what is new with your beautiful wife and daughter?"

"Well, Moira's been quite busy on Muir these days, and Rachel's
growing like a weed..." Part of his brain was happily focused on the
catching up, but there was a part of him already making plans. If
Medusa was back, that opened up all kinds of possibilities...