xp_logs | Nate and Doug

Late afternoon/early evening Monday. Nate comes up to visit Doug and talk about the map that he created, in several different languages, as well as the fact that he can now speak Askani consciously.

Nathan had decided to look on it as a sort of exercise. Charles was rather insistent about the
need for him to get more comfortable with his telepathy in general, so instead of asking around
to find Doug, he went looking on his own, trying to pin down that particular distinctive presence.

It was easier said than done - a lot of people in the mansion had unusual mental 'signatures' - but he eventually tracked Doug down to his room. Which would have been a logical place to start,
Nathan told himself wryly, knocking on the door. Oh, well. After four days lying around in the
medlab, he needed the exercise.

Doug looked up from his computer, slightly startled, and his hand fell away from where it had
been playing with the upper portion of his left ear so as to avoid fidgeting with the
newly-punctured lobe. Walking over to the door, he opened it and smiled at the mercenary.
"Nathan! C'mon in! You feeling better? I'm kinda surprised that Doc Mactaggart is letting you
out of her sight," he joked playfully.

"She's only letting me out of one kind of sight," Nathan said as he came in, pulling back the
sleeve of his shirt to reveal the vaguely watch-shaped monitor Moira had strapped to her wrist
before letting him out of the medlab. "I made the mistake of suggesting to her a week or so ago
that she needed to adapt a baby monitor. Who was to know she'd take me seriously?"

Doug let out a snicker before he could snatch it back. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just really
kind of funny." He made a valiant attempt to straighten his face, and failed, snickering madly.

"You laugh now, but wait until you do something that gives Angie serious cause to fuss over
you," Nathan said, giving him a mock-severe look. "I suspect my little sister-in-precognition has
mother-hen tendencies to rival Moira's."

Doug nodded. "Actually, she's already shown some of those. Remember that giant headache I
posted about last week? That was me overexerting my power and working myself into a
migraine. Angie was a bit of a mother-hen after that." Doug smiled. "Not that I was minding all
that much."

"Mmm," Nathan said, looking around for a chair. "You're okay, by the way? No lingering
effects?"

Doug pulled his chair from his desk and offered it to Nathan while plopping down on his bed,
leaning up against a large throw pillow. "Nope. Not that I can tell, anyway. Just a giant
overexertion migraine at the time."

Nathan sat down, suppressing a sigh of relief. His mind might be a little on the giddy side with
the sheer joy of being out of the medlab, but his body was lagging a bit. "Good. I sympathize, by
the way. I used to get them from my telekinesis when I was your age. Pushing too hard was a
fact of life, back then..." He trailed off, tilting his head as he regarded Doug. "Love the earring," he said dryly.

Doug grinned. "I...Angie's been prodding me about it for a while, and I finally decided 'what the
hell'. It's sort of symbolic or something. Doing something about a fear I'm willing to face. It
didn't hurt all that much, and I can always take it out and let it heal over if I decide I don't like it." He shrugged.

Oh, there were all kinds of interesting things behind the words there, Nathan thought. He could
sense that; Doug's mind, while disciplined, wasn't quite as guarded as some of the other kids. "It
looks good," Nathan said contemplatively, deciding that pushing wasn't perhaps such a good
idea. "Sort of, um, rakish?"

Doug nodded. "I think it has something to do with how clean-cut I look and all, and yet, look! A
hint of rebellion. Angie's been waxing poetic about it most of the afternoon. And Alison's been
squealing."

"Good to hear it's a hit," Nathan said with a lopsided smile, and then bit his lip for a moment,
thinking. "~The unpredictable is always attractive,~" he ventured in Askani, honestly curious as
to whether he was speaking the language fluently or just thinking he was.

"~The unpredictable can be a little scary, too,~" Doug replied in the same language. "~So, you
really _can_ consciously speak it now?~" he continued.

Nathan let his breath out on a wondering sigh, fascinated. He heard the words in Askani, but in
English at the same time. It was bizarre; there was no effort to it, and while mastering languages
was easier for a telepath as a matter of course, it had never been this easy.

"~Apparently,~" he said, smiling a bit helplessly. "~It feels strange, though. As if the line
between this and--~" He stopped, his new facility failing him on a translation for English. "~As
if the line between Askani and the language we were speaking to each other a moment ago is
blurred.~"

Doug nodded pensively. "Interesting," he replied, consciously switching back to English. "We'll
have to see if we can do anything about that. Maybe an Askani Scrabble match, or something."
He grinned.

"Don't know how we'd do that. Their alphabet's so strange." Nathan hesitated for a moment,
trying to think how to express what was in his mind. "I'm not sure that there's not a telepathic
level to the battle language, either."

Doug shrugged. "Well, it's food for thought, anyway." He trailed off for a moment, casting
about for another conversational gambit. "How's Doctor Mactaggart doing?"

"Better," Nathan said, more briskly, but couldn't help a frown. "I scared the shit out of her. Still feeling a bit guilty about that--and yes, Doug, I know it's not my fault, but I can't help myself."

Doug shook his head. "I know better than to lecture about feeling guilty over things that aren't
your fault. Classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, you know?" He smiled wryly.

"I never wanted to add to her burdens," Nathan said more quietly, then mustered a faint smile.
"Unfortunately, I'm awkward that way."

"I know the feeling," Doug replied. "But, at the end, it's her choice, isn't it? She chooses to be with you for who you are, not who she wishes you were." He smiled. "Besides, you're cute
together."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Enough with the cute," he mock-growled, but couldn't help a brief grin.
"Cute is for you young folks."

Doug chuckled and waved a hand. "If you say so, Nathan." His tone and posture indicated that
he was still keeping his opinion about Nathan and Moira.

Nathan shook his head, but told himself to let it go. "Anyhow... not to change the subject, but I
was wondering if you might have some time to look at that map of mine. I can scan it into the
computer, if you like, so that we're not dealing with the original napkins." He coughed, then
wondered why he was flushing.

Doug nodded. "Either way is fine, really. It's up to you."

Nathan took a deep breath, then smiled. "Thanks, Doug," he said quietly. "I appreciate the help.
And I promise to try not and freak out on you this time."

Doug nodded. "It's my pleasure, Nathan. And it's okay." He grinned. "So you said that there
are multiple languages on the map?"

"At least four. One of which is definitely Askani. But they seem tied to different areas of the
map, as well." Nathan paused, frowning. "One of them..." He trailed off, remembering the harsh,
jagged script. "I don't like the feel of one of them," he said slowly. "I wonder why."

Doug looked thoughtful. "Enemy territory?" he mused.

"Naghraka tsularr irstanale Caanani," Nathan murmured, and then looked up at Doug, blinking.
"That was... not Askani."

Doug nodded. "The Caananite order. Dominant clan." He looked thoughtful. "Who are the
Caananites, then?"

Nathan looked around slowly, as if the answer was written somewhere on the walls. Inwardly,
though, he was running through his memory of the visions. "The ones in green armor," he
murmured. "The enemy. His people."

Doug nodded again. "The enemy." It made sense. "Nathan, you said 'his people'. Who is 'he'?"

Darkness. Darkness in the corner, that deep, booming voice laughing. *I make no monuments to
the weak.* Nathan gasped aloud, shuddering away from the image. "Can't," he said weakly, and
then struggled to pull himself together at Doug's worried look. "I can't go there yet, Doug. I
think... I think that might be the answer to it all, but I can't..."

Doug nodded reassuringly. "Okay. That's okay, Nathan. If you can't, you can't. Concentrate on
what you _can_ remember."

Nathan focused on one of the breathing exercises Charles had taught him, feeling his calm
slowly return. "Okay," he said a bit raggedly. "Definitely something to be bringing up with the
Professor at our next session."

Doug nodded. "Probably wise. Askani interacting with this time period is bad enough from
what I've heard. I don't think we want to take a chance on whoever 'he' is, no?"

Nathan nodded, trying and failing to smile as he levered himself up out of the chair. "I'll--see if I can get that map in a more readable format," he said.

Doug nodded, reading Nathan's desire for a retreat from the situation. "That sounds fine.
Whenever you can get it to me, Nathan. Take care of yourself, okay? I wouldn't want to have to
sic Doc Mactaggart on you." He smiled wryly.

Nathan hesitated, halfway to the door. "I should... tell Angie that now I'm out of the medlab, we
could try meditating again? If she wants, I mean."

Doug nodded. "That'd be fine. I think it really helped her last time. I'll let her know for you." He smiled. "See you, Nathan."

Nathan nodded, mustering a smile. "Bye, Doug. Thanks again." He slipped out of the room,
heading back the way he had come. Out in the open, or at least more open than Doug's room had
been, it was easier to shed the lingering shadows. By the time he reached the stairs, he was
feeling almost cheerful again.