xp_logs | Nathan and Angelo, Thursday afternoon

When Angelo returns to the office after a meeting in the city, Nathan makes a suggestion as to what he could do with his Saturday.

Nathan couldn't help a slight sigh as he lowered himself into his chair. While he was managing full days of work again - finally - it didn't mean he didn't feel wiped out by mid afternoon. Just that it was easier to work through it.

As Angelo walked through the door, tie loosened and jacket off, Nathan raised an eyebrow. "How'd the meeting go?" he asked. Amelia had finally okayed him to drive again, but Angelo had been handling Bolivia well enough over the course of his semi-incapacity that Nathan had suggested he take on sole responsibility for the project. About time he started doing more of that, anyway...

"Pretty well", Angelo said with a crooked smile. "Just hashin' out the details, by now."

"I think you're enjoying this a little too much," Nathan said, putting on a straight face. "I haven't heard nearly enough cursing and so forth. And don't you say anything about differing managerial styles. Only Joel gets to be that snide."

"Hey, I do sometimes", Angelo protested. "The guys at this meetin' were all in the field, not bureaucrats. No swearin' needed - an' anyway, I'm the one that gets to apologise to people after you're rude to them, remember?"

"You have an unhealthy fondness for the good cop role. It's sick and twisted." Nathan was very carefully not smiling as he called up his email to check and see if there were any new messages while he'd been raiding Juliette's files.

"I'm goin' to password-protect your computer", Angelo threatened, not meaning a word of it but keeping a straight face too. "See who's the good cop then."

"Just keep blustering, my boy." Nothing pressing in his inbox. Well, that was good. That wasn't to say that his inbox was empty, of course... "I need to unsubscribe from a few of these mailing lists. So much spam..."

"Are the mailin' lists worth it? Forge could probably make you a decent spam filter, if you want to keep them", he pointed out, back to business now.

"By spam I also mean the impassioned debates about the mutant-issue equivalent to theological niceties," Nathan said, sounding amused now. "I like to think I only get my nose out of joint about important things."

"True enough", Angelo conceded. "I heard what you said to whoever was on the phone yesterday, but I'm guessin' that was important too?"

"He just didn't appreciate the importance," Nathan said with a sniff, paging through the emails. "... huh, do you have any extensive plans with Amanda this weekend?" he asked after a moment, thoughtfully.

"Extensive?" he echoed, then shrugged. "Usual weekend stuff, I guess. Dinner an' all. Why, you sendin' me off somewhere?"

"Well, there's something in Central Park I would like to see, but I'm not sure that I'm up to it," Nathan said. "Wandering around for hours on end is still a little uncomfortable."

"That's why you take your friendly office bodyguard an' his nice comfortable car", Angelo said cheerfully. "What's in Central Park?"

Nathan waved a hand. "Kind of an exhibition," he said. "Booths and talks and the like - it'd involve a little more walking than I think I could handle comfortably right now. It's this group from Brazil, kind of a communal living movement... I'd read about them a few months ago, they sounded interesting." Nathan trailed off, eyebrows going up as he finally made the connection as to why this Alvorecer Novo group had caught his attention.

"I'll borrow you a wheelchair if you want to go that badly", Angelo suggested half-seriously. "An' I know that look, what is it?"

"Just... thinking that they're very much like a certain sustainable-living movement in Alaska I ought to know more about than I do," Nathan said, somewhat half-heartedly. "Which is why the story about their jumped out at me. But really," he said, forcing a brisker tone into his voice, "they are worth understanding a little better, I think. Alvorecer Novo, I mean. They've got mutant-human integration as one of their founding principles, and to have grown as quickly as they did, they have to be doing something right."

"Even if it's just givin' out what people want to hear", was the wry response. "Sure, I'll go, without you if you really think you can't."

"It's a multi-day thing," Nathan said, "so if you go and realize it's the best thing ever, I can get my old bones into motion and get into the city the next day." He couldn't help a sigh. "I sound like I'm malingering, don't I? I just get worn out so fast, still..."

"Hey, the last thing I want's to bring Amelia down on me for lettin' you do more than you're fit for. I'll bring you back all the infopacks I can get my hands on."

"You should see if any of the kids want to go," Nathan said suddenly, and then raised his hands defensively. "Yes, I know I just suggested a field trip, but I can't help it. It's like a compulsion."

"...you do realize the last two field trips I had anythin' to do with, Julio got turned into a giant panther an' Laurie came back bleedin'?" Angelo demanded. "Do I have to?"

"The only way to break the curse is to keep trying. Take it from one who knows," Nathan said, not quite unkindly.

"Law of averages, huh?" was the wry response. "Yeah, okay, I'll ask. Maybe they'll even trust me."