xp_logs | Nathan and Amanda, Thursday afternoon

Nathan and Amanda run into each other at the casino and stage a bit of a game to make an exit together. Afterwards, the conversation in the car turns to Manuel and what happened at the Hellfire Club, and then to deadly champagne-bottle wielding Turkish ambassador's daughters.

It wasn't often a capacity for alcohol could be considered a tactical advantage, but Amanda was blessing hers as she wandered around the Excelsior's gaming room, listening absently to the semi-drunken chatter of the two Australian girls she'd picked up outside as cover. Backpackers tended to be young, somewhat scruffy and travelled in anything from a large mass to singly - the perfect cover for Amanda to observe security at Arcade's hotel. And from what she was seeing, there was a lot of that. The fact the casinos plied the unwary with free or cheap booze in order to get them to gamble didn't especially make the job any harder, especially since everything was chronically watered down. Then she caught sight of a familiar grizzled head above the crowd surrounding a blackjack table, and she grinned.

"Catch you in a bit, yeah?" she told the two girls. "Gotta go t' the ladies." They nodded agreeably (by now they'd both had enough to drink that they agreed with everything) and wandered off to see if there were any cheap floor shows going on, whilst Amanda casually stolled over to the table.

Nathan smiled faintly, catching sight of her out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't been in the casino for long enough for the buzzing of the psi-suppressant gear to get to him too much, but he knew that wouldn't last. "Interesting game they have going," he said as she came over, inclining his head at the table.

"Yeah?" she asked, trying to see between people and not managing terribly well since they were all taller than she was. And not inclined to move for the girl with the Union Jack t-shirt and facial piercings. "Always liked poker meself - more skill, less blind luck." She glanced up at him, a briefly wicked smile on her face. "Buy a girl a drink, old man?"

"Depends on the drink," Nathan said dryly, nodding towards an empty corner table, nicely in the shadows. "I'll meet you over there. With drinks." He detoured briefly to get them each a soda - Amanda might pout at him, but he needed to be clear-headed and he saw no reason why she should get to drink if he couldn't (and didn't that sound juvenile?).

She did pout when he returned, but took the soda without protest. Besides, it would be good to wash the taste of weak bourbon out of her mouth. "So, havin' fun?" she asked brightly, playing up the slighty flighty backpacker persona.

"Oh, loads. The ambiance in here... really something. My head just won't stop buzzing." He offered her a somewhat wan smile. "You?"

"Some. 'S not really that friendly t' my sort, is it?" she replied, flicking a glance at the security cameras and the casually-dressed bouncer types. "More of a place for the nobs t' hob, really."

"Noting all the details?" he asked, sticking to 'deliberately vague'. They were kind of in the open here, after all. "Details are important things, you know..."

"'S all been very educational," she assured him, grinning and leaning back in her chair. "Can't wait t' tell all me friends."

He gave her a long, assessing look. She seemed all right, or at least reasonably okay, he thought, although he was hampered by the whole lack-of-telepathy thing at the moment. Strange's cautionary words about how drained all the magic LeBeau wanted from her would leave her were still very much at the forefront of his mind. "How are you feeling?" he asked more quietly.

"Tired," she replied honestly. "Been a busy few days. Think I'll be glad t' go home an' put me feet up for a while, but there's this big party an' all still t' come. Can't miss that, even tho' it's gunna really take it out of me." She sipped at her drink, wrinkling her nose at the fact it was as watered down as the alcohol. "Still, 's what I get for bein' the life of the party, yeah? Just have t' make sure I eat an' sleep a bit beforehand."

"Now," Nathan said dryly, his voice still soft, "a smart man would just have to get all paternal and make sure that you do both eat and sleep. So that you're in tip-top shape for that party. There might even be nagging involved." The buzzing moved upwards in pitch and he winced, tilting his head to one side and rubbing at his eyes.

"I'll be good," she replied, careful not to look overly concerned at Nathan's obvious discomfort. "Don't want t' miss all the fun, after all." Switching briefly to Askani, she added. "~And that smart man would do well to have a change of scenery.~"

"~It hurts,~" Nathan murmured under his breath in the same language. "~Mind over matter, though.~" He managed a smile. "So maybe this makes me a dirty old man, but what are you doing later?" he asked, knowing she'd take it to mean a question as to how she was planning to leave.

"I'll wait 'til me Aussie friends're too drunk or to broke t' go on an' see 'em back t' the hostel," she said with a grin. "Unless I get a better offer first. Place is crawlin' with travellin' types, an' they're all friendly enough." She winked at him, and very carefully nudged his knee with hers. "I'd lay off the booze, old man - yer lookin' peaky."

"Well, funnily enough, I have a very nice place in town," Nathan drawled. Oh, but Manuel - before the incident at the Hellfire Club, at least - would have been so terribly thrilled to overhear this conversation. "What say you and I take one last walk around the floor and then head out? We can talk about the details of that better offer in the car. I'll even feed you."

"I have a rule - I never turn down free food. As long as you think you can keep up with me, yer on." Pete would be laughing himself sick if he was here, she reflected with a smirk.

"Why don't we meet out in the parking lot?" he suggested. "Spare us both the disapproving looks from the staff?" He rose, taking another sip of his soda before leaving it there on the table. "Five, ten minutes?" He wanted one last look at the various exits from the gaming floor.

She nodded, and got up also, stretching up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "Don't keep me waitin'," she said, winking at him and giving his arm a brief squeeze. There were a couple of scadalised looks from the couple at the table next to them, and she gave them a cheerful grin. "Five minutes, luv," she said, giving Nathan a cheeky wave as she left.

Nathan watched her go, shaking his head a little. Ignoring the looks from the couple at the next table, he got up and took a deliberately leisurely turn around the gaming floor, pretending to stop and watch a couple of games, but actually carefully eyeballing the exits. Once he was satisfied, he headed towards the main doors of the casino and out into the semi-fresh air.

He tottered as soon as he stepped out the doors, the Askani and his telepathy all coming back at once with the force of a sledgehammer blow. The doorman stepped forward, looking concerned, but Nathan steadied himself and managed a slightly strained smile. "Been in there gambling for a while," he joked weakly. "Natural light. Quite a switch."

Amanda was sitting perched on the fence that surrounded the parking lot, face tipped up to the sun. The air felt gritty, and she pulled a face at the smell - nothing she could pin down, although someone more artistic would have called it the stink of soured dreams. She raised her eyebrow behind her sunglasses as Nathan came out, looking decidedly unsteady on his feet, but stayed where she was. There were still cameras out here.

Nathan made it to the car and got in, struggling to relax as the roar in the back of his mind subsided to the usual murmur as his shields reformed. He had the presence of mind to unlock the door for Amanda and by the time she slid in, he managed a wan smile for her. "Not much fun," he murmured.
"I'm gettin' that," she replied, giving him a worried look. "The dampeners givin' you that much trouble?"

"Not the dampeners so much as what happens when I get out of range again." He let his head rest against the seat for a moment, breathing deeply. "It all comes back at once. Kind of a shock."

"An' you can't just avoid the place altogether 'cause Le Beau needs yer ninja skills," Amanda said wryly, concern screaming out from her posture. "But you don't have t' go back for a bit, yeah? Blame it on me if you have to - you had t' take me back t' the safe house for a nap or somethin'."

"I think I'm done for the day," Nathan said with a sigh, straightening in the seat and doing up his seatbelt. "Pretty close to being done entirely, actually. There's not much more that needs eyeballing. I'll come back once more and that should do it. I shouldn't be wandering in and out of there too much, anyway." They were very close to having as complete a security profile as was likely possible.

"Good." Amanda buckled her own seat belt and wrinkled her nose at the casino. "I'll be glad when we're done. 'M sick of this place. Doesn't feel right."

Nathan started the car. "I'm not surprised it doesn't feel right to you," he said, backing out of the parking spot. "This place panders to the... well, I could be nice and call it the less sophisticated elements of human nature. Sometimes that means the nastier elements, sometimes just... the lesser ones."

'Trust Lee to like it, then.' The thought was unnecessarily catty, even for her, and Amanda hoped Nathan hadn't 'overheard'. Tiredness, probably. She was tired in a way she had seldom been before - the work here had been sustained magic, rather than the short bursts of effort she'd gotten used to in every other situation she'd been in. "Yeah, that makes sense. Still, we'll be done soon," she repeated. "An' then we're back home."

"Back home," Nathan murmured wistfully, giving the finger to a Mercedes that cut in front of him on the way out of the parking lot. "Can't wait. I talked to Moira on the phone last night, but, well... doesn't really do as a substitute."

"No, it ain't." Amanda didn't mention that Manuel had apparently lost his phone again, since she'd called him already several times without success. And without his password to his computer, he couldn't access email. And the link... she'd given up trying to see if he could sense her at all - obviously, with the damage to his powers, he was even more headblind than she was. Oh, the irony. "D'you need any of that willowbark tea when we get back?" she asked instead. "I brought some extra, figurin' we'd need it - seems t' be the thing with people stretchin' their powers - they get headaches."

Nathan gave her a brief, sympathetic sideways look. She had just as pressing a need to be back home as he did, he reflected with an inward sigh. "I can't say I'd love a cup of your willowbark tea," he said dryly, "but I'll take one, happily." They drove in silence for a few minutes, before he decided he had to say something. "They'll be keeping an eye on him, you know," he said gently.

"I know," she said flatly, not looking at him, her eyes fixed on the tawdry glitter and glam of the Strip passing by outside. That wasn't what she was worried about.

Nathan sighed, aloud this time. "I'm sorry," he said very quietly. "I wish..." He wished he could fix things for her, that was what he wished. Turn back time to the night of the Hellfire Club party and stop them from going. But shit kept happening and time travel kept not being invented. "You'll be back soon," he murmured.

"'S not yer fault, Nate." Amanda turned away from the window to look at him, fading bruises still edging her cheekbone. "We got stupid, an' now we're payin' for it." Her tone was matter-of-fact. "Forgot everythin' I ever learned." For a moment her voice cracked, and she turned back to the window. "I'm tired," she said, not wanting to continue this. "Okay if I nap for a bit?"

"I should have a story or two that could put you right to sleep," Nathan said after a moment, smiling a bit faintly as he came to a stop at a light. "Did I ever tell you the one about the Turkish ambassador? And his bodyguards? And the champagne bottle his daughter broke over my head?"

Amanda chuckled faintly. "No, that's a new one. Sometimes I wonder if all this stuff actually happened, or whether you make it up t' see how much I'll believe." There was a hint of a smile on her face as she turned back to him, 'though. "Go on, then. 'M listenin'."