"I don't really sleep that much. Perk of electrokinesis."
"Good to know," Nate responded with a wisp of a smile on his lips, the most he'd dare surrounded by her father and brothers.
"If you don't like chewin' on beans, I got a flask of espresso you can hit."
"No," Nathaniel made careful eye contact with Troy when he responded to the Native. "I will not be doing that."
"I like the suspenders."
"Oh," he started to respond to Eva but the windows got rolled down and J'Moy began to hoot and holler out of the open windows. Which included catcalling the large, Russian man in overalls who had just entered the garage. But he'd misplaced his belt and decided if this turned into a hike, Nathaniel didn't want to be pulling up his pants all day.
Forge glanced from mirror to mirror to Eva's manic smile then to another mirror as he drove the off-roading luxury vehicle out of the garage. He felt for his biological-failure because he could tell she was trying to do the right thing here. Jon could hardly fault his daughter for how she felt as Forge remembered the absolute insanity Eva's mother had inspired in him. "Deep breaths," he encouraged Eva while he steered them to the Northern service roads, which led them to Xavier's expanse of undeveloped property. Property that Forge had long ago turned into his own personal camping/hunting/training grounds. "What does this taste like?" Forge said and his free hand grabbed Eva's tumbler of no doubt incredibly sweet coffee - both because he was curious and to distract her.
Jimmy had settled into the seat and he swore his legs had already started to ache. He wasn't Harry Potter and his scars didn't sear when they approached the campsite, but the anticipation of taking a non-Piotr up there filled his body with a truckload of nervous energy. He stared out the open window as the scenery changed from Mansion grounds, then to lake, and finally to thick woods. The Land Rover made easy work of the rough trail, but that didn't stop Forge from hitting the odd tree root every so often. He munched on a few more coffee beans between bumps and noticed Troy's leg bouncing when the truck wasn't. "How much espresso have you had?" He asked, then reached across Nate to snatch the flask from Troy's pocket.
Nathaniel sat back and watched the pairs of family members engage in their various interactions and felt an odd sensation. Was it warmth? Or acceptance? He wasn't sure, but given he was dead center of the family unit and they didn't appear to be acting any differently was... It was -
"Tree," Nate's train of thought wasn't just derailed, but the track was ripped up and a superhighway was built atop it. "The tree," he said again and pressed the button on the ceiling of the truck that controlled the back seat sunroof. The powered window slid back while Nathaniel unbuckled his seat belt, and then stood up in the moving vehicle. His top half appeared on the roof of the vehicle and he looked desperately for the tree he could already feel. Nathaniel visually searched until he was pulled down back into the car by what he assumed was Jimmy's arm.
"You did it, you crazy son of a bitch, you did it," Jimmy paraphrased Jurassic Park to Forge because it's what Nate's actions reminded him of. "You broke Bookmen."
"Did you all perform a massive blood magic spell out here?" Nathaniel asked and then brushed his messy hair out of his face. "What happened?" He asked the car but was looking in Eva's direction.