xp_logs | Nathan and Jono, Wednesday morning (Reply)

Backdated to Wednesday morning. Nathan goes to see Jono for the first time since the explosion on Sunday.

The glow was visible from the hall. Nathan stood in the door of the boiler room, his eyes a little wider than they should be as he took in the sight of Jono in this new form. Strangely, he could almost feel the strain on his circuit breaker, as if his brain wanted to see deeper, to perceive the different layers of Jono's energy form. It held, though, and he took a deep breath, reaching out tentatively in a telepathic 'knock on the door.'

#Jono?#

There was no outward sign of it, but Nathan got the impression Jono turned to 'look' at him, as if he'd interrupted something. #Hey,# Jono replied, carefully blank, although Nathan could hear the roiling thoughts just beneath the surface.

Nathan took a shaky breath. #I won't be stupid and ask how you're doing,# he sent back, stepping into the room.

#But you sort of made a point of it already by mentioning it.# It felt like the light moved to give Nathan some room, though it probably just dimmed a little. #I'm alive,# Jono said then, after a pause. #And so are you. Head still hurting?#

#Some. Amanda healed most of the concussion, but there was some backlash, too, since you and I were linked when it happened.# Nathan let his gaze move around the boiler room, seeing that there wasn't much in the way of - well, anything down here anymore, apart from a few pieces of medical equipment that certainly hadn't been here at that last session. Monitors, he supposed.

#You're well enough to move on your own,# Jono observed, obviously taking that as a sign that Nathan was healed enough for anything. He could sense Nathan was surveying the room, but the results weren't interesting to him, since all he could see was black, dotted with bright lights here and there. Almost like his own private night sky. #What happened?# he asked suddenly, having only very little idea himself.

Nathan sighed, then focused on answering. #I only have what Charles told me to go on,# he said. #I don't remember, myself. Something went wrong with your visualization of the pattern we were working with, and the lines of force snapped. Hence the explosion.#

Jono took a moment to think about it, tangents of light snapping out to touch the walls of the room. #It didn't hurt, you know,# he said then, almost absently. #It did before, but not the actual explosion. I'm sorry you got hit too.#

#It's all right. This sort of thing has risks. I'm just sorry...# Nathan paused, took a deep breath, and traced one of the meditative patterns in his mind before he went on. #I'm having... some trouble hearing the Askani just now. Backlash, not the concussion. Once lengthy conversations are easier, I'll ask her about where to go from here.#

#Is that my fault?# Jono asked immediately, with a little stagger, the glow rippling like someone had thrown a rock into a pond. #She's not gone is she?#

#No, they're still there,# Nathan assured him immediately, cursing himself for phrasing it badly. #If you want to get technical, it was my fault for not shielding properly. Don't worry, Jono - it's getting better already.#

A little burst of red expanded from the middle of the pale light, then faded. #How could you have known you should be shielding?# he demanded. #It's not like I come with a warning sign.#

Nathan wondered just how he should put this. #There's some question as to whether I was taking proper precautions while we were training,# he finally sent, a bit hesitantly.

That gave Jono a little pause. #Weren't you?#

#I thought I was. I monitored you so carefully over the last six weeks - there weren't any signs of anything like this. Askani was watching you, too, and I was reporting to the Professor regularly...# Nathan sighed.

#So what other precautions could you have taken? I didn't think I was going to go like that either. It didn't feel like the previous times, until right at the end.# Jono said glumly. #I'm sure you could've just stuck me in the Box for the next decade.#

#We could have kept working in the Box. But when there wasn't any sign that you were having trouble...# Nathan grimaced, rubbing at the back of his neck as he leaned against the wall. #It wasn't helping, and it was actually hindering you making progress,# he said, not sure who he was trying to convince.

#It's rather ironic to mention progress at this point, isn't it?# One strand of light swept up the wall, just a bit to Nathan's left, but obviously careful not to touch him. #Not that I've got anything else to do than make progress right now. It can't get worse.#

Nathan bit his lip. #Don't lose hope? Please? I know that's asking a lot, given that you're a large ball of psi-energy at the moment... but you're still there, Jono. Remember what she keeps saying about mind and matter?#

The light went dimmer again, subdued. #Mind is matter,# he recited obediently. #Tell her - when you can - that at least I can see the patterns clearer now. That's got to be a start.#

#As soon as I can. As soon as I can hear her clearly, she and I and you are going to figure this out,# Nathan said, meaning it.

Nathan didn't deserve Jono's doubts whether or not it was going to work, so he tried to keep them masked. #Yeah,# he agreed. #You get paid to do that, don't you.#

#Damn right I do,# Nathan bantered right back. #And I'll have you know I earn every penny.#

#D'you get paid extra with each concussion you take?# Jono asked lightly. #If you don't, you should probably take that up with someone.#

#You talk like I do this regularly. Oh wait...# Nathan let the thought trail off teasingly, but then grew more seriously. #Jono... can we link a little more deeply? So I can see what you're seeing?#

#Three times doesn't constitute as regularly,# Jono replied, then went on to say, nearly without a breath's space in the middle, #Why do you want to see what I see?#

#To be able to tell her, when I can. To see if it's what I see--or what I saw when I was seeing the patterns all the time. Before Charles had to help me put the circuit-breaker in.#

At least Jono had learned to trust Nathan, as well as Askani, during their time together and didn't feel he was being asked too much. #Go ahead,# he invited, making himself as easily reachable as he could.

Nathan deepened the link a bit tentatively, ignoring the way his head started to throb. Just needed to... there. The room shifted into glowing patterns of psi-energy, and Nathan took a deep, sharp breath.

So much the same. #This is very close to what I was seeing, Jono,# he sent, his mental voice a little unsteady. #It's really not hurting you?#

He could almost sense Jono shrugging, somewhere beside or around him. #No. I don't feel much of anything, as far as the physical senses go.# He reached out to Nathan, testing the link. #Is it supposed to?#

#It... well, I can't say it didn't, with me. I started to see a... glow sometimes, back in the middle of the summer, but it took a training exercise going wrong to start seeing the rest of it, and that hurt like hell.# He could feel Jono probing the link gently and sent back a flicker of reassurance, hiding the increasing headache as much as he could. #It's okay.#

#This hurts you too?# Jono asked, stacking a psychic wall between himself and a trickles of pain he could feel spreading from Nathan. #Even if you're just borrowing what I see?#

#It's just the residue of the concussion and so forth, I think...# There was no sense of strain from the circuit-breaker. #The link, more than what I'm seeing... but I don't need to be sharing the headache.# He pulled away, bringing the link back to a surface connection.

#You know there are painkillers, don't you?# Jono suggested helpfully, although a bit relieved for not having to resist the insistent presence of pain.

#Trust me, I'm heading right back to my favorite pill-pusher as soon as I go,# Nathan sent back dryly. #To think, I used to be afraid of the damned things... now, I pop them like candy.#