2007-10-09: Timing

Starring:

Nathan_icon.gif Peter_icon.gif

Summary: Is there ever a right time to contract a virus?

Date It Happened: October 9th, 2007

Timing


Bat Country Labs

In the room temporarily set aside for Nathan and Peter's use, Nathan sits on the floor with his back up against the wall, nearest the power outlet for the laptop he's currently handling. He could probably move in a desk and a chair but honestly, this was easier at the time, a blanket draped about his shoulders and legs outstretched in front of him. Technically, he's supposed to be getting some rest, but he was also meant to be checking out the last run of campaign posters before it'd be too late to do anymore publishing of anything. A mug of tea rests on the ground just next to him as he slowly clicks through the graphics. He's not really even seeing them, however, mind on other things and gaze wandering from the screen.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Peter snuck out of the cot that he rolled in for himself and disappeared. He was gone until morning. Easy money says he went to sleep with his girlfriend, also in quarantine. And easy money would be right. Which is why it's called easy money. He's returning to the bedroom now, with a cellphone and a cellphone charger (which he Jack'd from his apartment). Opening the door, he looks around once and then says, "Hey— you're up." He moves in further, still looking feverish and sick, but forcing himself to move around, by the looks of it. Kneeling down, he plugs in the charger and lets his phone start charging, before he hobbles over to the bed and collapses onto his back. He's still shirtless. And shivering. But not because he's shirtless. "I forgot how much I hate being sick. Real sick." Not overload sick.

"Yeah," Nathan agrees, sparing Peter a glance and then drawing his gaze back down to his laptop, bringing his lukewarm tea up to sip. "Been a while." His position at the wall is getting uncomfortable, but the prospect of moving now stiff joints up to stand isn't one that appeals, so for now, he stays where he is, going back through the graphics. "There a landline down here I can use? Tried to make a call earlier, but reception is hell." He'd managed to get through to Heidi last night, but trying to talk down a crackly line to someone on a bustling New York City morning? Not a chance.

"Pretty sure there's a landline, yeah, but not back here," Peter says, gesturing towards the door, if a tad weakly. He'll have to go out there and figure it out. "I take most my calls in the hallway, near the stairs— seems to work best there." There's a pause and he pushes himself up enough to look at the older brother, still looking very weak. "Did you get ahold of Heidi last night?" He'd been too tired to ask when they made it in here— and then he'd vanished in the middle of the night to cuddle with his girlfriend in quaratine. At least it was just cuddling, right?

"I did," Nathan says, glancing up again from his laptop screen, before rather resignedly pushing it closed and setting it onto the floor beside him. The mug of tea is clasped in both hands, as if trying to soak up what warmth is there. "She's— worried, predictably. I'm not sure if I should have her come here at all." That's about when he makes to stand up, using the wall as leverage before moving tentatively towards his own cot. It's what would usually be recognised as Nathan's Hangover Walk, but he hasn't been drinking to earn this headache. "You should call her too, sometime. You'd probably be able to explain the situation better than me."

"I would wait until we know more," Peter says, looking up at the ceiling, which means falling back onto the bed. "If Elena didn have it, I would've stayed away from her…" Even if it actually made him upset. More so than he'd like to admit. He doesn't handle being seperated from his girlfriend very well— if no one has noticed. If it meant for her own safety, though, he'd definitely stay away from her. Because that's just who he is. Even if he'd be miserable. "I told Claire to wait a couple days before visiting me— mostly to keep her from skipping school, but… I didn't tell her you were here too. Just me. If you want me to, I can tell her— she said she doesn't get sick, but I'm still— I hope Cass tells us it's not contagious before then." He can hope. "I'll give her a call. I know she's worried— and honestly I need someone to keep an eye on Snowy."

The timing just sucks, and Nathan seems almost sulky as he tips his tea cup to inspects what's left of the contents, before polishing it off and setting it aside. "Well… make sure you know for sure before inviting Claire here," he says, turning so that he can lie down, too, one leg draping off the bed and the other bent, an arm moving to cushion his head as he eyes the ceiling. "Even if she 'can't get sick'. You're supposed to be indestructible too, remember?"

"If we don't know if it's contagious or not before four tomorrow, I'll send her a voice mail and tell her to try and come back later," Peter says, still looking at the ceiling, but seeming to understand his concern. "I don't want anything to happen to her either— Mr. Bennet would kill me permenantly if anything did happen to her because of me. But she insisted on coming over— I just talked her out of skipping school and coming over first thing this morning." Just barely. She was very eager to help out. "It could be— my blood works different than hers. I tried to use it to heal someone— fix them in the future. It didn't do anything." He's not really been wanting to talk about this, and he scrubs his hands over his face. "I don't know if that's why I'm able to get sick or not— but it really seems to have Cass bothered."

Ah, the future. Nathan and Claire had even compared what news Peter had brought back from them, and found their results to be equally lacking in good times. He considers something for a few moments, then says, "If she can come, then I'd like to see her. I— " A sigh. "If you can't get a hold of this man, Adam… you remember what Claire did for me. I don't want her to be a labrat by any means but she wants to help, perhaps Cass might gain something from talking to her."

"All right," Peter says, actually glad to hear his brother wishes to see his daughter, even if the circumstances might be slightly tainted with the possible need for her blood. "I know what she did for you— that's why I… tried to see if I could." In the future. It didn't turn out well, from the way he sounds. It's not just tired and sick making him sound drained. It's emotional draining too. "It's up to her how much she wants to help— but I think she just wants to do something besides… nothing. She's related to us, after all. We don't like to sit around and do nothing." It doesn't mean she'll consent to being used as a lab rat. "I won't make you ask. If anyone does, it'll be our 'doctor.'" Who isn't a doctor.

Speaking of sitting around and doing nothing… Nathan casts a glance about the room before restlessly sitting up again. He's tired, but not sleepy, it being not at all late in the day and caffeine having been consumed. Running a hand through his hair, he just nods to Peter, reaching for where he has a couple of water bottles stashed just beside his cot. "I hate this," he states plainly, animated annoyance in his voice now, as he twists the cap off the bottle. "You know what I did just the night before I came here? Took your advice."

"Not a huge fan of it either," Peter admits, but he does start to sit up when his brother mentions his advice, and having taken it. Even with his skin pasty and pale, and his eyes kinda bleery, and his body sagged in desire to sleep, he's obviously trying to figure out what point of advice his brother might have taken. Either his brain is addled, or… "You decided to plan a late birthday part for the three of us?" Meaning the two brothers and Heidi. Which would've been very, very late for two of them.

Nathan gives Peter his best 'that was a stupid answer' look, even if, you know, with all the advice tossed between the two of them, it'd be hard to pick out exactly what he's referring to. "No," he says, absently fidgeting with his wedding band now as he approaches this topic. "I, uh. Proposed. Again." Should Peter look his way, Nathan offers him a shrug, annoyance still visible. He and Heidi had shared a very nice night and now they have to keep separated until they know for sure, and though they're better than most couples when it comes to spending time apart… Timing.

That— that was a long time ago. "That was back when you first got Julius and Caesar," Peter quietly murmurs, thinking all the way back to that. It's a wonder that he'd done this after so long a time of waiting to do it. That's why the younger of the two brothers is so surprised, pushing himself up a bit more and looking across at him. "I'm guessing she agreed to it?" Or— um— things might have been a little more strained.

"Christ, Pete. Yeah, she said yes." The annoyance is directed towards his brother in that statement for a moment, but a flicker of a smile softens it a little, Nathan then studying his hands. "I know, it was a while ago. I wanted to do it when I knew she would," gesture towards Peter, "'agree to it'."

"I didn't think she would say no," Peter clarifies, though there might've been a time close to the advice she might have. So he can understand his brother's concern. "I'm glad you asked her— but yeah, this bug of ours. It's picked a bad time to decide to kick us." If it really did come from Sinai… it's been months since then. Almost half a year. He hasn't admitted it to most, but the day after that incident is when he fell in love with his girlfriend. It's been a catalyst for a lot of things, that one day in Sinai. And now… this. "I'm happy for you. Really. Just hope we're able to do it sooner rather than later."

"Not that there was ever a good time to kick us but I think you're right." Proposal. Campaign. Nathan looks back up at Peter, nodding once in agreement. "I probably should have waited until all of this was cleared up properly, but then again, I didn't picture me being here the next day, so, I guess it doesn't matter. It made her happy." And that thought almost visibly brings back a little peace, shoulders relaxing, because it had made Heidi happy, which is such a nice change from disappointing her. Oh, 2007. "How's Elena doing? She didn't look too bad last night." He's by now, of course, heard about Elena's blood test results.

"It's been almost exactly a year since this whole thing started," Peter comments, looking at his brother quietly. Almost a year since he ran off to save the Cheerleader and died the first time. It's been a long year, with the exception of the four months when he'd been locked up and his brother had been rotting in a hospital bed. "I'm glad she was happy. I hope you were happy about it too?" he asks, since his brother's feelings on the matter are important to him as well. But… Elena. "She's… she's doing all right. I think she's more exhausted than me, now, though. She's sleeping, and didn't want to wake up, and the phone rang and… I wanted to check on you." And charge his phone.

"I am," Nathan confirms. Happy in an awkward way. Happy that she said yes, that she had understood why he'd done it. He continues to turn his wedding ring around his finger, just a restless, fidgeting movement he's barely conscious of. He nods at the news of Elena's health, looking back at Peter when he adds that last part. "I'm alright. Tired. Wishing I'd brought a few more things over, actually." Like his reading glasses, some more clothes, the spare battery for his laptop. Things he didn't think he'd be needing, that he still might not need, but… He gets to his feet. "I should go investigate about that landline."

"If you need anything small, let me know," Peter says, eyes following his brother even as he stands up. "I can still use Jack's ability pretty well— it doesn't strain me too badly." It's probably not as accurate as he makes it sound, but he'd like to pretend that it doesn't strain him at all. Makes things easier. But he doesn't get up to leave the bedroom just yet, either. "Think I'm going to get a couple hours sleep, maybe… then I need to make a few more phone calls." Like trying to get ahold of Adam, or maybe checking up on a few other people. Niki. He never did respond to her text message from a few nights ago… And Heidi too. "Good luck."

Nathan hesitates, as if considering Peter's offer, something he'd normally take him up on easily, but what with the overloading and all that, it makes it harder to make demands. "Get some rest and we'll see," he says, instead, moving to collect his laptop off the floor, unplugging it from the wall. "Thanks, I'll need it. It's amazing how confused perfectly smart people can get when their boss doesn't show up for work every day." With a subtle wave towards his brother, Nathan makes his way out of the room.

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