xp_logs | Nathan, Alison, Miles and Bella, Sunday night

Backdated to Sunday night. After Nathan's offer, Alison brings Miles to meet Bella. Yet again, the big blue bird is a great big hit. Also, Nathan does something that will result in Terrible Vengeance down the line.

Miles knocked at the door softly, unwilling to startle the bird Alison had promised him was inside. He'd danced around her as she climbed the stairs, finally faster before much to his relief. Going ahead had been out of the question but that meant waiting of all things and waiting when there was something new and exciting to see was rather hard on the little boy. He turned around and looked up at Alison, grinning widely as she winked on him, leaning on her cane.

Inside, Nathan settled himself carefully in the chair farthest from the door, so that he could stay out of Miles' range. "Come in, Miles," he called out, sensing both him and Alison outside the door. Bella, waddling around on the floor, looked up at him with an inquisitive chirp, and he grinned. "Be good," he said more quietly to her as the door opened.

The door opened slowly, Miles peeking inside slowly, scanning the room eagerly. "Ooh!" Bella drew his entire attention on the spot and he sidled inside, leaving the door open for Alison to follow. "Hello Mr. Nathan," he intoned solemnly, eyes still wide and fixed on the bird on the floor.

"Hey there," Alison soon followed inside, leaning on the wall and closing the door with a fond look at Miles as he crouched down, not moving further inside the room just yet while observing the feather duster on the floor. "Pretty," she grinned approvingly at Bella.

"Hey," Nathan said, delighted by the boy's obvious fascination with the bird. "Bella, say hello to Miles and Alison."

"Hello! Miles! Alsun! Hello!" Bella squealed happily, and being the consummate judge of character that she was, bounced immediately over to Miles, clacking her beak. "Hello! Hellohello!"

"Bella can talk!" Miles gasped in delight, eyes still round and a bright smile spreading across his face. "Hello Bella!" He plopped down on the floor, lying on his stomach and propping his face up with his hands - he'd seen these kinds of birds before at the freak show, but never one like this, brimming with good health and vitality. It was odd, but at the same time, the best thing he could think of seeing just now.

Nathan smiled warmly, catching some of Miles' thoughts. He gestured at one of the other chairs, giving Alison a very significant look, before turning his attention back to the pair on the floor. "She certainly does talk," he said, then, on an impulse, hummed the first few bars of 'Frere Jacques'.

Bella looked back at him quickly and then picked up the tune. "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, dormez vous, dormez vous?"

After a few days of Hank's significant looks during her therapy, Alison was already well trained enough to head straight for the chair, although not without an amused grin in reply and a half salute.

"Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines, ding ding dong, ding ding dong!" Miles chirped out the words with not so noticeable accent, watching the bird with rapt attention, sparing only a moment to give Nathan a blindingly happy smile.

Bella bobbed her head up and down in what was distinctly approval. "Miles! Pretty!"

Nathan laughed aloud, shaking his head. "Bella, knock it off with the flirting already," he scolded her, grinning. Miles gave him an inquisitive look, and Nathan didn't stop smiling for an instant. "You know, Miles, Bella is even older than Alison? Isn't that scary?"

Alison's features froze in mid-smile and Miles "ooohed" quietly at the look on her face before giving Nathan a half-sympathetic, half "you deserve what's coming to you" kind of look. "Miles think Bella is very pretty too," he said gravely, inching over a bit closer since she was clearly unafraid of him. "Miles think Bella is beautiful!"

"She likes her head rubbed," Nathan said cheerfully, beaming at Alison. Oh, he was so in for it. Had been worth it, though. "Don't worry if she starts wriggling around when you do it - she's just trying to get you to go for the good spots."

Miles wasn't about to pass up this chance and he shifted, sitting cross legged before leaning over to carefully offer his hand to Bella, cooing softly at her brightly colored plumage and dissolving into nonsensical words as he petted her.

Still smiling, Alison slid Nathan a mild look that said it all. One day, when he least expected it... "I'm wondering who's charming who here," she mused, eyeing Miles and Bella each making googly eyes at each other.

"I think it's mutual," Nathan said with a chuckle. "It generally is..." He couldn't quite keep the wistful note out of his voice as he watched Miles with the bird. So open to the world, so curious...

It wasn't hard to guess what he was wondering at - she still wondered herself, more often than not. "He's got a lot to catch up on." And she intended to make sure he'd have the chance to, with as little trouble in his path as possible.

Nathan smiled again, suddenly. "Bella, do the chicken-dance for Miles," he said. Bella squealed and immediately started to caper around, waving her wings wildly. Miles laughed aloud, clapping.

Alison laughed as well, the sight both ridiculous and entirely endearing. "Oh, that's too precious. We need to do that again and take pictures." She already had far too many albums of pictures and a few CDs worth of digital photos as well, but it was still not enough as far as she was concerned.

"She does it on cue," Nathan said dryly. "Whenever when you have a camera she'll do it again happily. All right, Bella," he said, turning his attention back to the bird. "Enough dancing. I don't want you falling over."

Bella bounced to a stop, ruffling her wings. "Nate! Peekabo, Nate?" Nathan concentrated for a moment, levitating the dishtowel out of the kitchenette and draping it over to the ecstatically chirping parrot. "Peekabo! Peekabo, Miles!" she shrieked, bouncing again.

"Oh. My. God." Alison gaped then started giggling helplessly, even as Miles forgot to breathe from sheer joy. "Oh!"

It didn't take him long to be on all fours, scurrying around the parrot and leaning just enough for her to see him each time she peeked, before scrambling more with a muffled giggle of glee. "Peekaboo Bella!" he echoed each time, dissolving in laughter afterwards.

"She'll sleep well tonight," Nathan said, pleased, and then grinned at Alison. "Maybe she won't wake Moira and I up with opera tomorrow morning."

Alison smiled slowly at that. Opera, mmm? That could be arranged. "So. She sings?" She leaned forward a bit, a definite carnivorous hint to her smile.

Nathan nodded a bit warily, the smile still playing on his lips. "Her previous owners were opera fans. There are about... hmm, somewhere between thirty and thirty-five arias she'll sing, if you hum the first few bars for her. She was demonstrating for Manuel this morning."

Yes. Widening her repertoire was a worthy cause. And it'd be such a nice surprise. Alison let the thought slip away for now and just leaned back, shaking her head as she watched both bird and boy at play. "No way. I'm not interrupting those two for anything in the world."

Nathan rubbed at the back of his neck, then tilted his head, regarding Alison thoughtfully. "How's the leg?" he asked, just loudly enough to be heard over Miles and Bella's enthusiastic game.

"Sore," she grumbled, glaring down at it. "Hank keeps saying that's a good sign. I am unconvinced of this fact." There was further grumbling as she shifted about, demonstrating at least that she did have more range of movement with it than the first time he'd seen her when she had gotten out of the medlab.

Nathan nodded, glad to see she was improving. "I actually managed a full-speed spar with Dom this morning," he said. "Of course, she kicked my ass, but she does a good portion of the time when I'm at the top of my form, so..."

Somehow, Alison had managed to avoid Domino all this time. "Uh huh. Still set at creaky and staggering?" she grinned impishly, not at all reluctant to point that out even as he could return the favor. If nothing else, she still had the cane - they were useful things, canes.

"A little creaky," Nathan said blithely. "No longer staggering." He glanced down at the towel-draped bird, caught by the trilling noise she was making. "That's her very happiest happy noise, Miles," he told the boy. "That means she really, really likes you."

"Miles really really likes Bella!" he paused in the game to look up at Nathan, checking the distance by reflex once more, careful not to get too close. He leaned down and trilled at her carefully, mimicking the sound back at her.

The pitch of Bella's trill spiraled upwards and she flung off the dishtowel and flung herself at Miles, hard enough to knock him backwards, at which point she planted herself on his chest and started to coo.

It was clear from the look on his face that Miles was pretty much thrilled with all of this, and he didn't move an inch despite the slightly awkward position on the floor, leaning on one elbow and carefully patting Bella with his free hand. "Miles thinks Bella is prettiest bird ever," he murmured happily.

"You're going to get a regular visitor, y'know," Alison whispered lowly, unable to look away from the radiant boy. She was smiling crookedly, eyes misting over a bit.

"He's welcome anytime," Nathan said just as softly, reminding himself to thank Dom again. She had been trying to do something to make him feel better, but she would probably be even more tickled to know about this.