Doreen & Nathan ((Mid afternoon))

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Doreen meets Nathan and Rachel while out for a walk with Monkey Joe. It goes reasonably well, despite a squirrel being involved.

Outside, the late afternoon air was crisp and colder than back home, but she still loved it. Doreen was down by the lake, Monkey Joe in tow, exploring her new home. The lake was large enough she didn't think she could jump across it, but maybe later in the summer she could try. If she had enough of a running start, anyway.

She was barefoot right now, and walking along the edge of the lake the water was cold, but felt very good on her feet. Now that her claws there were growing out shoes were more and more uncomfortable. And when people came by it was almost like she could feel the ground move.

"Come on, Let's go around by that house down there!" she said to her best friend.

As they approached the boathouse, the front door opened and Nathan appeared, steering Rachel outside. "What did I say about playing in the office?" he chided. Her little square jaw was set in a mutinous line. "Juliette's going to be very upset with you, making a mess of her desk..."

"Wanted to play."

"I know. But we've talked about this."

Doreen lit up as she saw the little kid, well, heard fist. Then smelled them. She looked over and she waved, "Hi there!"

Rachel responded with a curious, answering smile, raising a little hand in a wave - and freezing at the sight of Monkey Joe. She darted back and hid behind Nathan's leg, glaring at both the squirrel and Doreen.

Nathan raised an eyebrow, and then sighed, realizing. "You be nice," he told her, softly but firmly. "Doreen is a very nice girl. Hello, Doreen!" he called, smiling. "Don't mind Rachel, she's a little shy."

"It's okay," Doreen said, walking over, "She's a little kid and she hasn't met me before so I understand." As long as it wasn't 'Hey mommy/daddy look at the girl with the tail!' she was fine with kids.

"What's her name?" she asked brightly, smiling at the kid.

"This is Rachel. Rachel, say hello to Doreen."

"Hi." It sounded almost sullen, and Rachel's gray eyes narrowed as they tracked Monkey Joe's movements. Nathan bit his lip - it was not appropriate to laugh at the inexplicable squirrel-hate - and ruffled her hair, turning a cheerful expression back to Doreen. "Getting some air?" he asked. "Lovely day, isn't it? I just had to drag Rachel away from making a mess of the office... she has some bad habits in that way."

"Hi Rachel," Doreen said, squatting down easily to be at eye level with the girl. It was almost more comfortable sometimes, standing like this, "It is. And I get it, I used to do the same thing to my Dad's office all the time," she said. Though it wasn't an issue anymore by the time Dad had packed up and left. "I think it's the law for little girls."

Rachel was still watching Monkey Joe rather than Doreen, and Nathan discreetly blocked the flashes of telekinesis that went ominously squirrel-ward. #No.# "Especially telekinetic little girls," he said. "It constitutionally requires them to make a mess."


Doreen picked up Monkey Joe and he went on her shoulder. She was unaware of any attempts to fling her friend out into orbit, "I didn't have that problem, but I'd hide things a lot," even as a kid she did, "You didn't make too much of a mess, did you?"

"Nooooo."

"I caught her before she really got going," Nathan said brightly. Rachel looked up at him, scowling, but didn't let go of his leg. "Yes, I'm teasing you." He reached down and swung her up onto his shoulders.

She gave a yelp that turned into a giggle, and he reflected that it kept her farther away from the squirrel. "So," he said to Doreen, "settling in well, I hope?"

"Oh yeah!" Doreen said to that, "It's really awesome here," she explained with a grin. "I like it way better than my school back home. And my roommate is nice - I've never had a roommate before, so I was worried."

"I'm glad," Nathan said with another smile. "You know Julian, right?"

Doreen nodded, "Yep. He and I went to the same high school. When he left we all thought he had been sent to military school or something. My family isn't nearly as well off as his though," Doreen said on reflection. "The last couple weeks before he left he helped me out a lot," and had before when no one had been looking too.

"He's probably told you I work with him on his powers," Nathan said. "I'm glad for both of you, that you've got an old friend here. It can really help - I remember how out of place I felt at first, and how much it meant that I had two very old friends helping me adjust." His gray eyes twinkled. "Although I was old myself. I'm told the young are more flexible with new situations."

Doreen nodded, "Yeah, it does... but I don't really think it's age that's the issue. It's people. I mean, some adults deal with things in different ways than others," she said, a case study at the moment being her Mom and Dad. Her dad still freaked out by her two years after the fact. Doreen was still giving him time to come around.

"You learn to be flexible around here," Nathan said. "Necessary survival skill." He smiled, although it was less a 'just joking' smile than a 'what I've just said is absolutely true but it's not quite as scary as it sounds'.

"I'm already pretty flexible, but... oh- You meant the other way," Doreen said, laughing at the last one, her tail even flicking a bit with amusement. "It did make it better though, but I like meeting new people. And... it sounds bad, but I'm glad that most of the people here aren't just staring at my tail."

"One of my best friends is eight feet tall and looks more like a grizzly bear than a human being," Nathan said. "He's also one of the kindest people I know. Physical differences are... pretty negligible, in the final analysis. We can only hope that the rest of the world will start to catch up to that realization."

"Well, there aren't many people who look like me or like him, I guess, so it might take awhile," Doreen said easily.

"These things always do." Nathan looked up at Rachel. "How about we go see if Aunt Jean's free? She can teach you some more appalling TK tricks designed to make my hair go white." Rachel giggled, nodding, her good mood apparently restored. Nathan smiled back at Doreen. "You should stop by the boathouse sometime," he said, "see what we do at Elpis. Consider that a standing invitation."

"Okay," Doreen said brightly, "I'll do that. I promise not to even make a mess of your office."