Nathan and Cain, Tuesday evening

[x-cable.livejournal.com]

Nathan finally makes it down to the boathouse for that beer. He and Cain chat about scary conversations, throwing Manuel in the lake, the kids, and renovations.



Nathan stopped in front of the boathouse door, grinning at having actually made it this time without running into kids that needed a good Talking To or any other distractions. He knocked loudly. "Cain! Sanctuary!" he called, unable to help a laugh.

Chuckling to himself, Cain finished putting the last bit of mustard on his hoagie, capping the bottle and tossing it back in his mostly-empty fridge. "Door's open, Nate!" he called. He reached into the refrigerator and withdrew two beers in case his visitor was feeling thirsty.

Nathan came in, blinking at Mao, who mewed at him contemplatively from his perch on top of the refrigerator. "Your cat's on the fridge, Cain," he observed, and took the offered beer before wandering over to collapse in one of the armchairs. "You know," he pronounced, "I'm an idiot."

"Right, I do know that." Cain shot back jovially, opening his screen door to let the cat scamper out onto the porch. "So what is it this week? Spaniards or Scots?"

"Scots. So it's the good kind of idiot." Nathan took a sip of his beer. "We had the kids talk."

Slowly, Cain set down his sandwich and drink, flattening his hands against his counter and leaning over to stick his head out into his den area. "The you-and-her having kids talk? Brave man. You, uh..." Cain tried to figure out how to tactfully dance around the issue. "You know about her son, right?"

Nathan smiled a bit sadly. "Cain, I was the one who forced her out of the lab... and the bottle. I know about Kevin." He leaned back in the armchair, that faint smile still lingering. "And she knows about Tyler."

Letting out a breath, Cain took a huge bite of his hoagie, washing it down with a can of beer, then fished another from the case and wandered in to sprawl across his oversized couch. "So," he mumbled between bites, "they gonna be geeks or gunbunnies?"

"Gun-toting geeks?" Nathan suggested. "Or whatever they want to be..." He stopped, blinking. "They. What a thought. Crap... 'they' could be female, too." He scowled suddenly. "I would have to vet potential boyfriends."

Cain didn't bother to stifle his laugh at the mental image of a gray-haired Nathan grilling some would-be suitor at machinegun-point. "But seriously," he asked, punctuating random syllables with a gesture of his sandwich, "you two are really going through with the whole nine yards, huh? Wedding, family, kids? You think that's wise?"

"Maybe not," Nathan said slowly, "but in terms of it being dangerous to be around me, it isn't going to get much better than this, ever. And the silly woman went and fell in love with me, and she at least deserves everything she wants out of life..." He stopped, shrugging a bit uncomfortably. "Now I'm getting sappy. Ignore me. Getting engaged does bad things to one's brain."

"No argument there," Cain snorted, shoving the rest of his hoagie into his mouth and kicking his feet up on the end of the couch. "Never thought much about it myself. If I've learned one thing, it's that women are rarely ever worth the trouble they'll put you through these days." Noting Nathan's expression, he waved a hand dismissively. "Ah, Moira don't count. She's in a class of her own, I'll give her that."

Nathan's eyes narrowed a little. "If I hadn't promised way back when that I'd keep my nasty telepathic brain to myself..." he said teasingly. "But you know, the fun thing about being officially off the market is that you get to watch and snicker. Occasionally aloud."

Cain raised his beer in a toast at that. "Hell, I don't think I could even find where the market IS these days with both hands, a road map, and a GPS satellite." Crushing the can idly into a small metal ball, Cain flicked it with his thumb to join its brethren in an ever-filling garbage bin behind the couch. "Must be something in the water here, I swear."

"Too many adolescents in close proximity," Nathan said wisely. "You get a spillover 'romantic idiocy' effect." He took another sip of his beer, then snickered suddenly. "Were you serious about throwing Manuel in the lake for me? If so, can you wait until, oh, December?"

"Peacock season is year-round," Cain announced with a smile. "What's the son of a bitch done now?"

"I should never have given him that A," Nathan muttered darkly. "Whether or not he earned it. He struts in and out of that class like he owns the place. Questions my intellect every two minutes. He makes my teeth hurt. Why can't we have corporal punishment?" Nathan grumbled and took a sip of his beer. "Never dreamed I'd ever look back on Mistra's penal measures nostalgically, let me tell you..."

Cain spread his arms in a gesture of sympathetic helplessness. "Hey, if it were up to me, he'd be locked up in that little headproof box until he was collecting Social Security. But that fool brother of mine trusts him to behave himself," Cain rolled his eyes dramatically, "and from all reports, any shit he's gotten into has all been honest. Boy's got that Old Europe class warfare mindset. Fits in well with the whole 'us versus them' vibe here, don't it?"

Nathan grimaced, slumping in the chair a little further. "At least he's stopped accusing me of abandoning him," he muttered. "Can I just say, those lessons? Probably one of the stupider things I've done in my life, and that's saying a lot."

Cain nodded emphatically. "Won't find me changing your mind. Ain't no fixing some of these broken ones. Some of them seem to have got the idea this is their little palace to lord over like a bunch of fucking Fauntleroys." Flexing his hands into fists, Cain sat up straight on the couch. "But," he continued, breathing out slowly like Moira had taught him. "But - I gotta be fair. No one went and tried anything stupid this weekend when shit went down. They followed orders and they got their asses in gear and kept their heads down. No fight, no fuss. If only they all could figure that out."

"So I heard." Nathan smiled a bit wryly. "Slept through the whole thing, like I said... but yeah, I'm starting to wonder a little about some of these kids. I guess after everything they've been through, it's not a surprise that they're handling crises a little better." A little sad, though. Good, but sad. Nathan's gaze roamed around the boathouse idly.

Cain shrugged. "If you're saying they're too young to be this jaded, hell, I know this ain't your first rodeo." Cain's face took on a serious cast as he leaned forward. "You and me, we don't have the same civilian outlook the other folks got. I've seen kids Miles' age run up and stick a grenade under a Jeep just because they lived in a war zone. Hell, I've put a bullet in kids younger than half these students, because that was what it was like over there. Someone's shooting at you, you don't ask for ID when you shoot back. These kids," Cain gestured to the mansion, barely visible outside the bay window, "they figure they're young, so the universe is gonna give them a free pass when they screw up. Be interesting to see what breaks 'em of that."

"Well," Nathan said a bit wearily, "here's hoping it doesn't have to be as drastic as all that. Still, with our luck..." He took another sip of his beer. "You had a good thought about the drills, by the way."

"Only makes sense," Cain replied. "When Stryker came, he blew through this place like it was tissue paper. Lensherr's had his people in and out of here. Wisdom's old cronies, whatever in the hell the Witches Two call up from Hell - as long as the school's here," he announced, "folks are going to be coming out of the woodwork. Stands to reason that the kids need whatever you can give them in the way of safety from all that."

Nathan nodded. "I can help with those renovations you were talking about - hell, I promised you a little telekinetic help anyway, didn't I?" He smiled a bit defensively, raising a hand. "Nothing that'd land me in the medlab again, don't worry. Trust me, I'm trying to avoid that. Scared the crap out of Moira."

"Wouldn't take much," Cain said, "before Chuck tore the basement out, there was an honest-to-goodness fallout shelter down there where he's got his big-ass mutant radar thingy. There's more than enough space that the students can evacuate to without hitting the main foyers or common areas - here, look." Cain reached over to a drafting table across from the sofa and pulled out a blueprint sheet, spreading it across his coffee table and pointing out notations he'd made to Nathan.

Nathan leaned forward, peering at the blueprints. "Yeah, you've got a lot to work with already there," he said thoughtfully. "Having a few different 'safe spots' makes sense, too. Cramming the kids all in one place is asking for Magneto or someone to crack it open."

Cain nodded, pointing out areas he'd outlined on the map. "Landlines can easily be run between places, figure the simpler you keep it, the less stuff there is to screw up. I'm running a quick plan by Charles, and I think we could have drills ready in a month."

"Well, count me in," Nathan said with a chuckle. "Should be able to help you speed up the work, in any case..."