Julio and Nathan -- Tuesday Afternoon

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Backtimed to a little earlier in the day. Julio gets confirmation that something weird did happen, and he talks to his boss.



If Julio had any lingering doubts about his time in Guatemala, it was hard to argue with an x-ray. The box in front of him illuminated portions of his skeleton, and the unmistakable thin white lines that criss-crossed portions of his radius, femurs, rib cage and spinal column. Evidence of bones that had been recently broken and then healed. Coupled with what felt like a full body sprain, (Amelia said he'd had several strained or pulled tendons), either Julio had been hit by a car while he was out and then magically healed completely from it in two days.

...Or he'd turned into a were-jaguar.

He pulled on his shirt and sat heavily back in his chair, with his head in his hands, suddenly dizzy. He took several deep breaths and then rubbed his face.

Well, not much he could do about it now. He sighed and got to his feet, wincing. Since he was down there anyway, might as well pay someone a visit.

Nathan was dozing restlessly after a session of physiotherapy that morning, and jerked awake almost as soon as Julio walked through the door. "Jaguar, what?" he mumbled. For the last day or so, his telepathy had been almost too sharp. Damned head injuries.

Julio paused and blinked. Then he rolled his eyes heavenward. "There goes keeping that quiet," he muttered. He tilted his head at Nathan. "I'm sorry, do you want me to come back another time?"

Nathan made a face, rubbing his eyes. "I don't pay you enough for... trans... whatever it was. Your father's going to kill me."

"Dear God, whatever you do, do not tell my father," Julio looked genuinely panicked. "I will never ever hear the end of it. 'Oh son, do be careful, you might get attacked by a stray dog and get turned into a were-pit bull,'" Julio put his head in his hands and rubbed his face again. "Seriously. He never knows," Julio sat himself in the chair next to Nathan's bed and winced. He hadn't felt this banged up since they pulled him out of the ocean. That settled it. He was never leaving New York again.

"Danger pay then. Need to think about that." Nathan fumbled for the control for the bed, pushing the button that raised the head of the bed. Even that small movement hurt. "I don't want to hear the how. Would probably put me back into a coma out of self-defense..."

"It--" Julio faltered. "Yeah. Don't ask me what happened. I seriously don't remember anything." ...Well that was a lie. Bits had started coming back to him. Being feverish and restrained by Monet. Things coming out of his fingertips. Feeling his shoulders violently wrench apart before everything went black... He sighed. "I thought they were just screwing with me because I messed with Kevin," Julio shook his head, and tugged on a small leather band tied around his wrist. "As it turns out, they weren't screwing with me," he shook his head and then looked at Nathan. "How you doing, big man?"

"When I move, things grate. It's wearing." Nathan took a few careful, deep breaths, ever mindful of Amelia's 'let's avoid lung problems, Nathan' dictate. "Should be out of here by the start of next week, though."

"It's what happens when you get old," Julio teased. He put his elbows on his knees and propped his chin in his hands. "Papa was impressed when he heard about the coma. He hadn't heard of that one before." When in doubt and faced with revelations of a brain breaking nature, it was best to default to the manly art of giving people shit. Especially the kind that stemmed from 'Oh thank God you're still alive.'

"Yeah, I outdid myself this time." It didn't sound like a joke. "Finding your limits. I wonder how many times I have to do that in a lifetime... apparently I can't handle a telekinetic as strong as I am-" Not stronger. He didn't actually believe that. "-and a gravity manipulator at the same time."

Julio bit back his initial retort of, it's because you're old. "Perhaps it is time to stop trying to do things by yourself, yes?" he said instead. "It should be a learning experience. I have found I have a powerful weakness against supernatural monsters. I shall now be avoiding them in the future."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "How often do we get that choice?" he asked.

"Let me cling to my young, foolish optimism," Julio groaned. He sat back in his chair. "You should tell everyone I'm getting an attack bonus. Just to get them the hell off my back."

"Nonsense. No one else gets bonuses for grievous bodily harm. And you're too young to buy drinks for. At least in this country."

"Damn," Julio said, but without any enthusiasm.

"You could always go make woeful eyes at your girlfriend. There are better options than alcohol." Nathan blinked, not quite sure why he'd actually let himself say that aloud.

"I...I'm not sure how to handle that. I feel like I've been hit by a bus, and my girlfriend's English is not the greatest in the world," Julio sighed. How did one you say, sorry honey, not tonight, I got turned into a supernatural monster and I am very sore without sounding like a jackass?

"I didn't mean that." Young men and their preoccupations.

"Then what did you mean, old man?" Julio snorted.

"If I need to tell you, you aren't old enough to know," Nathan said, not quite haughtily.

Julio looked at Nathan and raised an eyebrow. "Either you're very stoned, or I hit my head much harder than I thought," he said. What was the old guy talking about?

Nathan rolled his eyes - and then winced. Rolling his eyes hurt. That sucked. "You need more of an imagination. Contrary to what your hormones are telling you, you could find a way to start putting this out of your head that involves Nori but nothing for which you need a lecture about being careful."

"No offense Nate, but I'm pretty much her cabana boy," Julio shrugged and made a face. "I don't have a problem with it, and any way, it's not exactly something I can explain in either language."

"Silly me. Five years from now you might have a glimmer of awareness that there's more to girls than that. Expecting you to get it now is demanding of me."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Julio waved a hand. "I know." At any rate, he was finding Nori after this and probably going to hide in her room for a few hours. Possibly days. "When will you be rejoining the land of the living?"

"Barring complications, start of next week, like I said. Won't be moving anywhere too fast for a while, though." Nathan's smile was a little twisted. "I hate being down here, you know. All the bullshit about me being a frequent guest just adds insult to injury. All you can do is lie here and reflect on how close you came to losing more than a few weeks."

"My father always says that you can't reflect on the what ifs. It's what he told me after the earthquake. I could kick myself and waste time, or I could use that time and energy and put it into doing something useful." Julio's father was generally accepted as a very strange man, but Julio also understood that his father was also very smart when it came to certain things.

"Great advice - once you're capable of doing something useful." He knew Julio was well-intentioned, as most of the younger set who'd been by to visit and give him advice had been. But experiences weren't equivalent, and much as he hated the jokes about all his infirmary time, the simple fact was, it had been a particularly bad year. And it was beginning to wear him down. "Maybe once I'm able to read, or stay awake for more than a few hours at a time..."

"Or, you could allow yourself to relax and heal," Julio said, standing and giving Nathan's leg a pat. "No one is expecting you to be better right away. You rest. Get better. I only say this, because someone once told me the exact same thing when I was stuck in a hospital bed."

"Sounds like an annoying know-it-all you shouldn't be emulating. You get some rest too," Nathan said as Julio turned towards the door. "When I'm more with it, I want to hear about the jaguar thing properly."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be hearing plenty," Julio sighed. "From many people. Talk to you later, man," he nodded at Nathan.