xp_logs | Nathan, Amanda - early Wednesday morning

Amanda tracks down Nate to thank him for fixing the link, but first she has to scold him for almost frying his brain in the process. He handily sidetracks her with talk of links, relationships, and his imminent teaching doom, offering to tutor her in the meantime. Father-daughter-ish bonding.

It was good to be out of that room, Nathan thought, staring up at the sky and watching the clouds shift across the blue sky. For this early in the morning, it was warm, surprisingly so. The grass was a bit damp beneath him, but not objectionably so. He could almost relax. Almost... except someone was coming.

Okay, so outside was a little further than she was technically supposed to go, especially since she'd already broken that particular doctor-imposed rule, but it was such a nice morning and it was _outside_. As opposed to in. Besides, it was where Nate was, and she really wanted to talk to him -
Manuel had been vague on details, but she had gotten Nate as the one responsible for Fixing Things, and she intended to thank him for the effort. The link hummed pleasantly in the back of her head - Manuel was asleep this early, and she was suspecting he was having good dreams - and she had to firmly squelch the urge to skip across the lawn. She settled for humming a Pixies song under her breath instead as she headed for the prone mercenary.

Crap, Nathan thought with an inward sigh. He had really hoped Amanda would give him another day before the inevitable discussion. He stayed where he was, running through a breathing exercise as she made her way across the lawn to him. There was no way to hide his general lack of restful sleep over the last couple of days - one quick look in the mirror this morning had convinced him to avoid doing that until he'd caught up a little - and the circles under his eyes, like the headache, hadn't quite gone away. But he could at least appear to be Happy Shiny Person.

"Mornin'!" Amanda said brightly as she reached him. She'd stopped about a foot away from his head, looking down at him with amusement, feet planted together and hands folded behind her back. Then she looked again, and bent over at the waist to have another, closer look, albeit an upside-down one. "What the bloody fuck happened t' you?"

"I've been carrying on a sleep deprivation experiment," he said, giving her his best earnest look, which probably lost some of its impact, being upside-down and all. "It's going very well. I'm learning all kinds of scientifically valuable things that are... uh, valuable to scientific people. Go me."

"That," Amanda said, moving around to his side and plopping herself down on the grass beside him, her legs folded under her. "...Is bollocks. Completely and utterly." She reached over and poked him in the side. "An' I ain't goin' t' leave you alone 'til you tell me, so you might as well get it over an' done with. Or do I have t' take a look at yer aura again? 'Cause that worked so bloody well last time."

Nathan sat up, smiling a little wryly at her. "I could out-stubborn you, you know," he said lightly, rubbing at his forehead and trying to ignore the slight dizziness that sitting up had provoked. "But I suppose you do deserve an explanation." She stared at him expectantly, and he shrugged. "I helped Manuel with the block he had on the link," he said, assuming she probably knew the basics. "Wasn't as much fun as getting kicked in the head, but hey, you learn something new every day."

"I figured it was you that helped Manny out with that, but what d' you mean by the kicked in the head bit? Did Manny do somethin' t' make it harder or somethin'?" Amanda asked, frowning a little. "He didn't set off any triggers again, did he?"

"No, he didn't do anything," he reassured her immediately. "It was what I had to do to break down the block that was harder than I thought it would be. It threw me for a bit of a loop."

She sighed. "I ain't gunna like the answer t' this, am I? What did you have t' do?" Then, with a Look, she added: "An' you ain't gunna get away with me not findin' out now yer've got me curiosity up. I'll ask
Moira if I have to."

Nathan eyed her for a moment, wondering just how general an explanation he could get away with. If he told her the whole story, she'd be off on another guilt-trip, and that was definitely to be avoided.

"There were... emotions, getting in the way of the link," he said slowly, hoping he could give her enough that she wouldn't ask Moira. "I gave them something else to focus on, so the link could open back up. It took quite a bit out of me." He offered her a tentative smile. "Was more or less out of it totally on Monday, afterwards."

Amanda's eyes narrowed as she recalled precisely what kind of emotions she'd encountered every time she'd touched the link. "You took that on? On top of all this shite yer gettin' from yer pre-cog?" She shook her head in exasperation. "How the fuck does Moira put up with you? Yer sense of self-preservation's worse 'n mine."

"She claims I'm giving her an ulcer," Nathan said, trying not to show any outward signs of relief. But it looked like he was going to get away with brushing this off, which was wonderful. So long as Manuel didn't get chatty, he just had to keep Amanda distracted with banter until she decided to let the subject drop. "I'm very lucky she finds me cute, I suppose."

"No accountin' for taste, I s'pose. An' don't change the subject," Amanda replied, her mind was clearly elsewhere, putting things together. "Manny thought I was dead, that's what was blockin' the link, right? An' you reckon you gave it somethin' else t' focus on..." The look she gave him this time was frankly suspicious. "How?"

Aw, shit. Nathan thought very carefully about phrasing before he went on. "It was a matter of being empathetic, rather than empathic," he said, rather pleased by the play on words. "It's hard to tell what exactly is going on in a mindscape like that. But I think what I probably did, basically, was trick the part of Manuel that created the block into rechanneling those emotions through me instead of the link. Which let the link open up again, like I said."

"'Empathetic', that's when you understand how someone feels, right?" At Nathan's cautious nod, Amanda went on. "Understandin' how someone else feels, 'cause yer've been through somethin' similar..." She stopped, not liking where this was going. "The link with yer wife, you still feel that, right? That was how you knew how things were for Manny 'n then me. An' you let our shite go through you..." Her face was a confusion of emotions - guilt, gratitude, exasperation, worry... It was the disbelief that won out. "You great soddin' plonker, you did that for us? Do you like doin' this sort of thing t' yerself?"

"Okay, getting rather tired of people accusing me of being masochistic," Nathan grumbled, wondering precisely where this conversation had gotten away from him. "And don't glare at me. It wasn't that bad." As the words came out, he could almost see Moira, folding her arms across her chest and inquiring acidly whether he had looked in the mirror to see the way his nose was growing. "Besides," he said as crisply as he could, "this way was the least risky for Manuel. Not to mention the most efficient."

"An' it didn't occur t' you t' use me somehow? I'm only on the bloody other end of this thing - you told me you was workin' on a way we could fix this, an' I was waitin' for one of you 'path types t' show me how to use the damn thin' t' give Manny a psychic smack over the head. I might be headblind, but Rom an' Strange ain't been teachin' me how t' pull rabbits out of bleedin' hats." Despite his request, she _did_ glare at him again. "Typical bloody male, you had t' go ahead an' try t' fry yer brain bein' all heroic."

Nathan opened his mouth, then closed it again, giving her a peculiar look. He was almost positive he had told her that what he had in mind didn't involve her, but... no, not arguing with the annoyed young witch. "It worked better this way," he said a bit awkwardly. "I wasn't about to 'use you', anyway. And my brain's not fried. Just wound up with a bit of a headache..." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized he had contradicted what he'd said earlier. He should have just told her he'd had a particularly bad vision or something; a lie would have been so much simpler than the truth. There was a sudden, almost pointed twinge of pain behind his eyes and he rubbed at his forehead for a moment, grimacing. "Taking advantage of the sleep-deprived, you are," he scolded her half-heartedly. "Not very nice."

"Yeah, well, I ain't. Nice that is. Comes of bein' raised by a sadist." Amanda's tone did soften a bit at the sight of Nate's obvious pain. "Yer a pillock, an' I wish you hadn't had t' put yerself through that, but I'm grateful you did. That's what I came out here for, t' say 'thank you'. 'Course, that was before I knew you nearly put yerself in the medlab again." She shook her head at him, in exasperated affection. "You need a bloody minder, you daft bugger."

"You and Moira both keep saying that," Nathan said, his mouth twitching a little. "But you're welcome." Now, a strategic partial subject-change should get her right off the subject of what a pillock he was... "So you're all right, with the link being back? No bad aftereffects?"

A slightly silly grin slipped across her face. "Nope. Once we sorted out that whole me bein' dead t' him business, it's been... nice." A blush coloured her cheeks. "Really nice." She shrugged helplessly. "'S odd, havin' someone's emotions in yer head, but I don't mind so much. Just didn't realise someone could feel that way 'bout me. 'M not sure if I know what t' do."

The blush was really cute, Nathan thought. "There will be times you wish you didn't have his emotions in your head, you know," he said dryly. "Enjoy the good times, but try and keep your head on the ground. Figuratively, I mean." She opened her mouth as if to respond to that, but he went on. "And yes, I know I'm raining on your parade. I'm a big meanie like that."

"Goes with the whole paternal thing, don't it?" Amanda teased. "An' don't worry, I'll be careful. I know better 'n most Manny ain't perfect, but he's tryin', an' that's a start. This is new t' both of us, y' know. Carin' 'bout someone." She didn't voice the thought that followed, that she was scared of screwing things up, screwing _Manuel_ up, hoping Nate's 'delicate' condition would prevent him from 'hearing' it. She shrugged. "An' if things don't work out, we can always get you or the Prof t' do somethin', right?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. "Better the Professor than me, if it comes down to that," he said, but shook off the bleakness the thought provoked. "But careful's good," he said, mustering a smile. "Careful can make this work for the two of you."

"We'll try. 'S all we can do, I s'pose." Amanda hesitated, and when she spoke next, her voice was very young, very unsure. "You an' Moira... How did it happen? Was it the link that made you... love her?" She tripped over the dreaded L word.

Nathan snorted softly. "No," he said, a bit wistfully, "that came a long time before the link. Five years, if I had to put a timeframe on it." It was vaguely embarrassing, now, to think of how much time they had wasted.

"Manuel said it wasn't the link that made him want me, it was me. He meant it, I could feel he did, but... I dunno." Her nervous fingers started shredding the lawn. "Ain't like anyone wanted me for me before. 'S usually just for sex, or for a spell, or other stuff. I had one of me foster fathers tell me no-one would ever want someone as damaged as me, so I might as well let him do what he wanted." Her tone was matter-of-fact. "I dunno what I'm supposed t' do, Nate."

"You're not supposed to have all the answers right now," Nathan said softly. "You're just supposed to be willing to try." She looked up at him, and he smiled. "You can't lie to each other about your emotions; that's a start. Actually, empaths and their link-partners have it a little easier, I think. You wouldn't believe what kind of thoughts can leak down a telepathic link."

She grinned. "I don't think I wanna know. You two bein' so horribly old an' all." Her tone wasn't serious at all, and she reached out to pat his forearm, the gesture expressing her thanks better than words could. "I bet when you turned up here you never thought yer'd be givin' relationship advice t' a couple of headcases like Manny 'n me, eh?"

"There are lots of things I didn't think I'd be doing when I got here," Nathan admitted, then eyed Amanda for a moment, realizing he had the trump card of all distractions in his back pocket and he'd forgotten. "Such as teaching."

"Teachin'? Really?" Amanda laughed. "Knew they'd get you sooner or later. Yer lucky they didn't make you a guidance counsellor, after all this. Any idea what yer teachin'?"

"Don't mention the guidance counsellor thing too loudly," Nathan said with a groan that was only partially feigned. "Don't want to be giving anyone any ideas... As for the teaching, not sure yet. The Professor told me to think about what I wanted to do around here, and I keep coming back to that." He gave her a teasing look. "Probably something involving a lot of reading, tons of homework, and very frightening exams, if I wind up teaching something related to my degrees. Which I suspect I will probably do, given that most of my skills are not things Charles would want passed on to his students."

"'M only askin' so I can avoid takin' 'em," replied Amanda with another teasing grin. "'Sides, I doubt I'll be up t' that level any way - with all the classes I've been missin', I'm gunna be with the muchkins 'til I'm twenty."

Nathan tilted his head a little, studying her. As light as her tone had been, there was definitely something else behind it. "Want some help?" he asked. She gave him a startled look, and he shrugged, smiling slightly. "Catching up, I mean. I did two degrees part-time while simultaneously flying around the world blowing shit up. I'm good on the whole organization and time management thing, if nothing else."

"Would you?" Amanda asked eagerly. Then she caught herself. "I mean, if it ain't too much bother. It ain't like I've already been a royal pain in the arse for you an' you probably got more important things t' do."

"You're worth the trouble, Trouble," he said lightly, but went on more seriously. "I would. I think I can even say I would be happy to." He gave her his best 'scary' smile. "I like cracking the whip."

"You ain't seen me without the spell check yet," she warned him, grinning. "An' I ain't always that patient with school stuff, but if you want to, I ain't gunna say no. Moira was talkin' 'bout some kind of special program for me, but things got crazy again an' we didn't have time t' do it." The grin turned wicked. "An' some girls like a bit of whip crackin'."

Nathan couldn't help a laugh. "Oh, yeah. You and Dom are going to get along just beautifully."

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Current Music: This Monkey's Gone To Heaven - The Pixies