Nathan and Julian, Tuesday afternoon

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Confessions are made, and not received with as much ire as Julian expected.


"Nathan, I jumped off the roof to try to teach myself to fly, and before you say anything- I know, I know it was a stupid thing to do. It's just tough to be grounded when, well, when you spend time with fliers. The thing is, you have your reasons for making me wait on it and working on what we're working on. I'm not going to do it again, I swear. Doctor Grey-Summers and Mister Beaubier knocks some sense into me and, well, I guess I knocked some sense into me too. So, I guess what I'm saying is, well, I'm sorry."

Julian sighed at himself in the mirror. He'd been rehearsing what he should say for the last hour and finally had it down. He ran a hand through his hair and headed out of his suite, down the stairs and outside. His nerves were starting to fail him, for some reason he really didn't want to let Nathan down. The boathouse loomed into view as he drew closer. "This is gunna suck," he mumbled.

The door opened as he approached, and a small red-haired blur appeared, running for the stairs and then squealing in delight as she levitated smoothly into the air. "Hi Julian!" Rachel caroled, bouncing lightly in her TK bubble as she headed for the safety of the grass. The much taller figure of her father followed, raising an eyebrow at Julian as he stepped up onto the deck.

"Julian," his mentor said, almost in a drawl.

"Hey...Nathan," he stammered through nervous laughter. Julian didn't have to be a telepath to know that Nathan was upset- he'd probably already heard. "So, I know we're supposed to have a lesson today, but...but I need to tell you something first." His head looked toward the fresh spring growth, unable to look Nathan in the eye.

Nathan folded his arms across his chest. "Oh?" he said, his voice perfectly level. "And what would that be?"

"Okay, um," this was it, "I might have done something completely irresponsible and dangerous...and...oh, okay, lemme start over." Julian took a breath, "I had the idea that if I jumped from the flyers platform...you know...on the roof of the mansion...well...." Was it getting really warm outside? "Well, it didn't work. I ended up hitting the ground with a shield up and I sorta...bounced. Anyway, it was stupid and I know, I know it wasn't the right thing to do. I'm really, really sorry that I did it and it's not going to happen again. And I feel like I betrayed your trust." He looked up at his mentor, "I'm really sorry is the point I'm getting at."

"Mmm." Nathan's eyes flickered briefly to Rachel, who was still playing well short of the water's edge, before he looked back at Julian. "Just the once? The jumping, I mean..."

"Um, no...it was quite a few more times than that. It took some intervention from Mister Beaubier and Doctor Grey-Summers, and on some level I always knew it was stupid." Julian scuffed his tennis-shoe against the stones on the path, his face looking defeated.

Nathan inclined his head in the direction of the steps and let Julian trail along beside him as he headed down them and onto the grass. Rachel was moving stealthily further and further away from the dock, and he wanted to make sure she knew he was keeping an eye on her. "It's a good thing Jean-Paul ratted you out early," he said. "If this had actually been a revelation, you probably would have wound up in the lake. I find it's a marvelous teaching tool."

It made sense that Mister Beaubier had said something- he'd been pretty concerned. "I'm glad I'll be remaining dry, but I probably deserve it." Julian kept his eyes between the water and Rachel, the guilt was eating him up.

"And why do you think you deserve it?" Nathan asked quite patiently. "You didn't break yourself, or anyone or anything else..."

"But I could have, and that's the point of why I shouldn't be trying to rush things, right?" Julian looked Nathan in the eyes, "You told me that we had other things we needed to cover before flying and I didn't listen."

Nathan just shook his head. "Don't get me wrong," he said. "I'm not pleased that you were experimenting. I was serious about the risks of flying. And given that you threw yourself off the roof and didn't suddenly get it, flying is probably going to be a challenge for you. But you don't need to flagellate yourself quite so enthusiastically about it," he went on. "You're going to test your limits. It's natural. I'm just wanting to make sure that you don't push them too far. Telekinesis on your level is one of the most powerful and dangerous mutant abilities nature produces. You have to be careful."

"And I wasn't," Julian sighed and shook his head. "You're the expert, we'll do this on your schedule- I'll...I can be patient." He was a little astonished that Nathan wasn't more upset.

"Once we've done a little more preparatory work," Nathan said after a moment, "I'm going to talk to Jean about working with you on flight. She's got a knack for it, and it certainly wouldn't do you any harm." He glanced sideways and down at Julian. "But remember what I said about you not getting it when you fell off the roof," he said, a mixture of warning and regret in his tone. "If your powers had been inclined towards personal levitation, they probably would have kicked in to do more than keep you from breaking something. You may never fly easily. My exoskeleton is not precisely a paragon of aerodynamic excellence."

"Though it does look cool," Julian smirked, pressing Nathan's limits a little. "Yeah, she said something along those lines too," he scratched his head and frowned again. "I might not be an expert with it, but it'd be good to learn how."

"Learning a skill is never wasted effort," Nathan said with a frown of his own, "even if you never quite master it." He rubbed at his jaw, suppressing a sigh. "I just want you to do this right," he said, not quite heavily. "You could hurt yourself if you don't, and not just physically. Mental scar tissue that gets created at your age hangs around forever."

Julian quirked his brow, "Is this a telepathy thing? Because if it is, I'm pretty sure that I already have a good amount of it." The faint hint of a smile graced the edges of his mouth as he looked out onto the lake. "You sure you don't want to throw me in? It might even be warm enough today."

"Julian..." Nathan stopped, turning to face him. "When I was your age," he said after a moment, then stopped, his jaw tightening as he looked back out at the lake, shaking his head. "I could tell you so many horror stories," he said finally. "I don't really want to. What it comes down to is that I didn't have the chance to set my own pace. I was pushed, all the times, to the limits of my endurance, into places I didn't really want to go. And so... stress fractures," he said, tapping his temple. "Up here."

"Yeah, you've told me that before. Not that I don't believe you, or doubt you or anything like that." Julian turned to face his mentor as Nathan continued to look out at the water, "I appreciate your patience and caution, but...it's okay to push me a little. I know you're trying to keep me from suffering your experience, but the fact that I have you teaching me means I'm not going to live that." He paused, "I'm not a child."

"You think I don't push you," Nathan said, sounding surprised - and a little scandalized, in a weirdly amused sort of way.

No turning back now, "I think that you think you're pushing me, but you hold back because you want to spare me." In truth, Julian had no idea what he was really asking for, but he knew Nathan wasn't pushing him as hard as he could be. "If I'm wrong, that'll be the end of it, just say the word and we'll continue the way we have been."

"I'm not your drill sergeant, Julian." Not yet, anyway. Although he had a feeling that day would come. A smile barely tugging at his lips, he started walking away. "You're getting what you need. The pace will work, for now."

"Alright," Julian said taking a moment to watch the waves roll onto the shore. "So, what are we working on today?" he asked as he turned to follow Nathan as he pursued his daughter down the shoreline.

"We're observing telekinesis in its natural element," Nathan said as Rachel bounced back up into the air with a soft cry of delight, floating like a leaf on the wind. After a brief mental touch as a heads-up - they had used a link often enough in training at this point - Nathan connected to Julian's mind and shared what he could see of the lines of force swirling around Rachel, propelling her flight.

"Huh," Julian knew what was coming and maybe it had just been his mind playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he knew where some of the brighter lines were going to appear. It was beautiful to see the bonds that connected one thing to another swirl around and he hoped that one day he'd be able to see this on his own.