xp_logs | Manuel and Nathan, Tuesday after classes

Manuel stops by to thank Nathan for helping him with the link, and to ask for advice. Nathan manages to offer some, rather than telling Manuel to take his happy-shiny-self and go away.

Tuesday, just after classes. Manuel made a beeline for Moira and Nathan's chamber, because the feelings he was getting over the newly-restored link were ... troubling. And he owed the big mercenary for giving him this wonderous gift. Since de la Rochas pay their debts, he knocked on the door to their suite carefully.

Nathan's eyes snapped open as he heard the knock at the door. "Moira?" he called out hoarsely, but didn't sense her presence anywhere close, and yet the presence outside in the hall was all too familiar. Why so soon? he thought dully, then saw the clock and realized with a shock that better than twenty-four hours had passed since that encounter in the sunroom. Swallowing hard, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, then slid off the bed, ignoring the dizziness as he stood. His head was still throbbing steadily, although the painkillers Moira had pushed on him earlier had taken the edge off. Making his unsteady way out of the bedroom into the sitting room/office, he barely made it to the couch before his knees gave out on him. "Come in, Manuel," he responded finally.

Manuel stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him. "Wow, you feel like shit." was his first oh-so-insightful comment. "I wanted to thank you again for restoring my mind, my self. I ... am in your debt. If there is anything I can do for you, you have but to ask." he said humbly.

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather what remained of his composure. He felt--raw, still, as if someone had been beating the crap out of him from the inside of his head. "You're welcome," he said, opening his eyes again and meeting Manuel's as steadily as he could. There was no doubt in his mind that the young empath was being sincere, but he couldn't bring himself to respond to it as he should, to build his half of the bridge being offered here. "You're--okay?" he asked, his voice growing even more gravelly. He stopped to rub at his eyes, wishing his vision would clear. "No bad aftereffects...?"

Manuel shook his head. "I slept like the dead last night, but if I dreamed, I do not remember them. Amanda ... she is hurting. She came to me, before you removed the block in my mind. I ... I said some really stupid things to her. They made sense at the time, they were how I was feeling - or, really, how I wasn't feeling - and it didn't go very well. I need to find her, to beg her for forgiveness. I detest begging."

I can't handle this right now, Nathan thought almost despairingly, sinking his face into his hands for a moment. "Don't beg," he managed. "She knows what was going on, why you didn't know her. She won't make you grovel. And if she does, I'll take her over my knee." It was supposed to be a joke, but it came out sounding flat enough that he looked at Manuel a bit edgily, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Manuel didn't, as that would be Expected Behavior in the de la Rocha household. "I will not beg, then, even though a large part of me wants to. Do you think that she will forgive me, in time?"

"Be honest with her. In word and in... emotion, I guess," Nathan said, his voice breaking despite his best effort to keep it level. His hands were shaking, and he folded them together. "You have the link, Manuel. That's more than most people do when they're trying to clear up a... misunderstanding. If you're honest with her, she'll see that what you did bothers you this deeply. It may take a while, but... you've got the time."

Manuel hrmmed. "I hate waiting." he muttered to himself while he considered Nathan's words. "I will do as you suggest. We shall see how it turns out. Now, is there anything I can do for you?"

Leave me alone. It was on the tip of his tongue to say it, but he swallowed the words, squeezing his eyes shut again. "I appreciate the offer," he said as evenly as he could, "but no, Manuel, there's nothing right now. I just need..." He cut himself off, giving the young man an unsteady smile. "You go find Amanda. Sort things out."

Manuel nodded. "I will do that. I am still in your debt, and a de la Rocha always pays his debts. I owe you one boon." And on that, he opened the door and let himself out of Nathan's room.

Nathan watched him go, blankly, silent for a long moment even after the door closed behind the young empath. He laughed suddenly, hoarsely, and the sound was all too jarring in the quiet of the room. "I get a boon," he said aloud. "Oh, joy." Rubbing at his eyes, he let the air in his lungs out on a harsh sigh, and stretched out on the couch instead of trying to get back to the bedroom.