xp_logs | Betsy and Nathan, Saturday night

Backdated to Saturday night after the blood drive. Betsy stops by to check on Nathan when she senses him projecting a little loudly. The two of them speculate on why they didn't catch on to Doug's plan, and then make some tentative first steps towards becoming more at ease with each other. Oh, and Betsy feeds Bella grapes.

There were so many voices now. Whispers that soon would overwhelm before she decidely pushed them back behind the wall. Betsy felt her hand go to the bridge of her nose. Perfect timing for a headache, she mused. A wonderful end to a horrendous day. Betst sighed and pushed back on the sofa, kicking up her feet on the coffee table.

It was then that a familar voice broke through the background noise. Nathan? Wasn't he suffering from some type of cold? Betsy sat up and focused in on the thoughts of her colleague. It wasn't her fault he was practically screaming his thoughts. He knew better.

Moira had told him to rest, and then gone to check on some of the kids who'd been more upset by the day's events than others. Still on the couch, he shifted restlessly beneath the thin blanket, shivering violently. He'd been feeling a little better earlier in the evening, and had expended some energy putting a bit of a block on the link, to spare Moira any unnecessary worries about him, but his thoughts were growing increasingly erratic as his temperature spiked again. Images from an assortment of various minds flickered through his. Haroun blasting through the air, Doug falling, people running and screaming...

She had already left her quarters and walked over to his room. Betsy knocked lightly on the door before entering. She doubted he'd be able to get up, but couldn't help with the formality. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but he hadn't spotted her. And she doubted he was able to bother with his telepathy, lately. "Nathan, thought I'd check in on you. See how you were feeling and all that."

Nathan flinched, his whole body jerking as the fact that he was hearing her voice penetrating, and the furniture rattled softly. Over in her cage, Bella gave a disapproving coo and started to bang on the bars.

"Betsy?" Nathan asked groggily, trying to free himself from the tangled blankets. "I..." Her question sank in, and he managed a wan smile. "Like crap. Feel like crap." He winced, his head spinning as he started to push himself up to a sitting position. "Did I disturb you?" he asked uncertainly, his voice hoarse. "Shields are a bit off..."

"It's alright," she managed, taking in his dissheveled form. Betsy's eyes darted to the slight movement of the furniture. "I knew Moira wasn't about to take care of you with all the kids clamoring about today. But, you look like you need someone to look after you, if only for a moment...."

Nathan blinked, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm okay," he murmured, managing a faint smile. "Hell of a weekend to get the damned flu..."

"I agree, but we can't do anything about that now." Betsy nodded for a moment and then disappeared over to the kitchen. She returned with the glass and a couple of tablets in her hand. "You need to take something for the fever, or it'll only get worse. And I doubt you'd like to have Maddie deal with you in her present state." Betsy sat down on the couch next to Nathan, handing both items to him.

"Must've gone back up again since Moira went out," Nathan said hoarsely, swallowing both tablets and chasing them down with some of the water. "Thanks. And yeah... not bothering Maddie would be good." He started to cough again, and it took him a minute before he could stop and catch his breath. "Everyone settled for the night?" he asked, wheezing a little.

"Not a problem, really. But yes, for the most part they're settled," she said, her eyes settling down on the carpet for a moment. She was obviously looking in on the students floor. "There are some talk going about, but mostly in the confines of their rooms."

Nathan sipped at the water again, his eyes resting wearily on her. "Do you wonder how we missed it?" he asked, very softly.

Betsy's dark eyes settled on him for a moment, before turning away. "I'm thinking we were both a little preoccupied. And Doug has had a fair share of training learning how to keep his thoughts to himself." Betsy sighed, sadly. "Perhaps, alittle too well, for my liking."

"I suppose periodic scans of staff and students to make sure no one's planning anything suicidal wouldn't go over very well," Nathan said restlessly, raising a hand to rub at his forehead. His head was aching again. Well, his whole body was aching, but the headache was definitely the worst. "Not to mention that the very idea makes me nauseated... or maybe that's just the flu."

"The Professor can usually pick up on overtly damaging thoughts from the students...and staff for that matter. Most telepaths are aware of the stronger emotions that usually involve things of the malicious nature. But, with the sheer number of individuals within these walls, less "noise" would obviously go unnoticed." Betsy smiled down at Nathan, placing her hand on top of his. "I can imagine not many would agree with regular scans of the staff and students, regardless of their intent."

Her hand was warm, oddly comforting. "I can't figure out what he was thinking," Nathan said with a sigh. "As if there's only one way out of any possible future... it's like he decided it was inevitable."

"Perhaps he had no other reason to believe otherwise. I've already gone through this with Scott, but Doug brought Angie's vision to fruition, he didn't even give us a chance to prove her wrong." She inhaled deeply, trying to put a stopper on her emotions. "I understand why he did it, I just wished it wasn't so."

Nathan shook his head a little, sipping at his water again. From her cage, Bella trilled, fluttering her wings. "I don't understand," he said, coughing again. "Maybe--maybe because I am a precog, and if I believed you couldn't shatter a future you didn't like, I'd be a very dead precog. Or at least a very insane one..."

"There's still some debate over the insanity part," Betsy joked. "You should talk to him. Even while working for S.T.R.I.K.E, I met a few precogs within the division. Their main job was to ensure the safety of the agents, but they also did threat assessment for each viable scenario. The future is not a guaranteed thing, unless you bound helplessly toward it."

Nathan nodded slowly. "I will," he murmured. "Soon as he's awake and I can walk across the room without falling over." He grimaced a bit, sipping at his water again. "Something about Kevlar... I 'heard' something..."

"Doug used Kevlar from Scott's uniform," she informed him. "I doubt many will let our dear Doug get away with this without voicing their thoughts on the matter." Betsy wipe her hand across her face. "Poor Marie-Ange, she had to be sedated on the spot. She was hysterical from what I hear."

Nathan opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I knew about Angie," he said after a moment. "Moira.... Scott's uniform?" He winced, running a hand through his rumpled hair. "Fuck. You're 'watching' him, right?"

"It's all I've been doing for the past two weeks," she admitted. "He's running on empty and I can't seem to help..."

"He needs out of here. Didn't I hear someone say he and his brother were supposed to be leaving for Hawaii tomorrow?" He smiled a bit wanly at her. "I'd say make sure he doesn't try and wriggle out of that just because things went to hell today, again. Otherwise we're going to wake up one of these mornings and find him taking optic-blast potshots at us all from our nonexistent clocktower."

"Not funny," Betsy winced. The thought hadn't escaped her, but she hoped that she would be the one to find him if he finally snapped. "He's going to Hawaii," she confirmed. Even if it killed him. "I don't want to think of him staying here any longer than he has to and lately, I've been thinking of getting a residence off-campus. Only to spare myself, of course."

"Off-campus housing? What an idea..." Nathan shook his head, smiling a bit wanly. "Is this where I confess that I've been having these wild and crazy fever dreams where I throw Moira over my shoulder and hop on a plane for Muir without looking back?"

"Moira is one lucky lady," Betsy said with a sigh. No, she wouldn't go into it with Nathan. Burdening a sick man was not the way to go, she realized.

"I still think she's going to throw me over for that microscope. Want to help me sneak into the lab and steal it?" Nathan asked hopefully. Oh, yes. The fever could break anytime now.

"You're an idiot for thinking that, Nathan." She patted his knee, trying to stiffle the giggles. "Or delirious. You need to get some rest, but when was the last time you had something to eat?"

"Uhh..." Nathan had to stop and think. "Amanda brought me soup around lunchtime, I think... I didn't have very much of it, though."

"Right. Might as well tend to that first." Betsy rose and went back to the kitchenette. "There should be something edible left in your cupboards."

"Fruuuuit?" Bella trilled from her cage.

"You ate fruit," Nathan told the bird with a frown. "Didn't you? Amanda gave you fruit..."

"Ah, here we go." Betsy returned with a bowl overflowing with grapes. She stopped over at Bella's cage and fed the little bird a few before looking over to Nathan. Handing over her offering, she hoped he could manage at least some of the fruit down. Retaking her seat, she wondered if she would have to feed him. Best not to offer, just yet. "The grapes should at least settle your stomach some."

"Thanks," Nathan said after a moment with a faint, hesitant smile. He plucked one of the grapes off its stem. "I'd say something about you doing the motherly thing really well, but then you'd be obligated to hit me..."

"Not really," Betsy replied. "I'd take it as the compliment it was intended to be. Besides, if making sure you're being looked after means I'm considered motherly, so be it."

Nathan gave her another of those hesitant smile and ate the grape. Bella trilled happily from her cage. "She's going to adore you now, you know," he said, his eyes flickering to the bird. "You gave her grapes."

"She's such a lovely bird." Betsy said, turning back to face him. Noticing his expression, she thwapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Oh, stop looking so tense. We both know that we have our personal issues with one another, but I'm not going to let that stop me from making sure you're taking care of yourself. Though as long as you keep them away from me, I'll keep the bits that offend you at a distance, as well."

"There's not..." Nathan paused, then went on more softly. "I'll keep them away from you, but there's nothing that offends me about you, Betsy." He shrugged a bit helplessly, ate another grape. "I'm getting a little better again, about the telepathy... Jack and Charles have been doing their best to talk me through it again."

"I'm glad, but if that's the case," Betsy started, then paused. "Then why haven't you even looked in my direction since..." She shook her head, thinking it not the best time to start this conversation.

"Since the dream-sharing we did?" Nathan stared down at the grapes. "I... I don't know," he said more softly, uncertainly. "Lots of reasons, I guess. Two and a half million of them at the very least... I know how much they unsettle you. Then I went and dragged you into my mind like that..."

Betsy looked away. "It wasn't intentional, I know. It was just a tenuous time for me and I reacted badly. I owe you an apology."

"Well," Nathan said slowly. "Maybe, since we both feel we owe each other apologies, we could just consider them given?" He looked up at Betsy, giving her a crooked smile. "And work on things from there?"

"Sounds good." Betsy said, nodding her head in agreement. She patted Nathan's leg before rising. "I'm going to go down to the kitchens and get you something alittle more substantial to eat. Then I'm going to sit here and make sure you finish all of it. We both know that your body can't heal without sustenance."

"Fruuuuit?" Bella cooed from her cage.

Nathan gave a chuckle that turned into a cough. "Now she knows you're a soft touch," he said hoarsely, but reached out very tentatively with his mind, offering a non-verbal sort of thank-you. Charles had been working with him on the subtleties lately.

She looked down at him, shaking her head in disbelief, but a smile came soon enough. Betsy leaned down and gave Nathan a light peck on the cheek. "You're welcome." She then reached over for a few more grapes from the bowl and walked over to the cage, feeding them to Bella. "I'll be back soon," she promised.