Taylor thanked Tony before stepping up to the front door.
He rang the doorbell and waited, hoping he'd come to the right house. Tony soon disappeared.
Natalie
Natalie opened up the door.
"Taylor!" she greeted merrily. "Come on in. How are you?"
She held the door open for him.
Taylor
"Pretty good," Taylor smiled, mostly to himself as he made his way in.
"It was my birthday yesterday, so... got onto the kero a bit."
He chuckled.
Natalie
"Oh, that's right," Natalie said. "Congratulations and happy birthday."
She shut the door behind him, and led him down the hall.
"My mom is looking forward to meeting you," she said.
Taylor
"Oh good," Taylor nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as he followed.
"As apposed to you know... getting ready to kick my ass for stealing her daughter once a week?"
Natalie
Natalie chuckled.
"She wants to find out what this guy who's been stealing her daughter once a week is like," she said.
Taylor
"Should I be worried?" Taylor asked, looking around on his way through.
Nice house.
Natalie
Natalie grinned wickedly.
"Be afraid, be very afraid," she said. "Actually, father-dear is the one you should be concerned about.
And on that, she stepped into the lounge room where her parents were waiting.
"Mom, Dad, this is Taylor."
"I guessed that," Mr Bryant said. "Have a seat."
Taylor
"Ah... hi," Taylor began nervously, before giving Natalie a worried glance.
He stepped through and took a seat where her father had indicated.
Natalie
Natalie sat down next to Taylor.
"Just help yourself," Mrs Bryant said, gesturing to the food and drink on the coffee table.
"So, you're a musician," stated Mr Bryant, as an invitation for elaboration.
Taylor
"Yes," Taylor agreed, "or I like to think of myself as one. Thankyou."
He nodded to Natalie's mother as he leant forward for a drink.
Natalie
"So?" pressed Mr Bryant. "Is it profitable? Are you working on a new album, or planning a tour, or otherwise working? Or is your fanbase not what it used to be and you're looking at other career opportunities, or studies or such?"
"They're working on a new album," Natalie put in.
"I was asking Taylor, Natalie."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated, a little taken aback.
"My brothers and I own our own record company," he began carefully, giving Natalie an awkward glance.
"Between working on the new album and planning upcoming promotion, the last album is still being sold and our documentary is being added to college courses throughout the country."
Natalie
"I see. Are you taking drugs?"
"Dad," Natalie frowned. "Taylor's my client, not my boyfriend. I don't ever see you badgering your clients."
"Unless they haven't paid their bill."
"Well, Taylor does."
"Honey," Mrs Bryant spoke up. "Nat's quite right - there's no need for you to give Taylor the third degree. And Natalie, you know your father just likes to make sure you haven't fallen into bad company - he may be your client, but he's also your friend, right?"
Natalie nodded.
"Okay, now that we have that sorted," Mrs Bryant nodded. "So, Taylor, do you have a girlfriend?"
Taylor
Taylor had just sat there looking between them uncomfortably.
After a moment, he began fiddling with his ring.
""No, I don't," he replied, shooting Natalie another glance.
Natalie
Natalie returned his look with a sympathetic glance.
"Oh well, I'm sure it won't be long," Mrs Bryant replied. "That's an interesting ring you're wearing..."
Taylor
Taylor looked up at her before he realised what she was talking about.
"Oh," he began, "a fan sent my brothers and I a ring each a few years ago. I'm just the only one that wears it."
Natalie
"Well, that was nice of her," Mrs Bryant observed.
Natalie reached for some cheese on crackers.
"So," Mr Bryant said, "Do you have any backup plans? You know, in case the whole music thing doesn't work out?"
Taylor
"Well, we don't exactly plan for it to not work out," Taylor couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
"But I guess we'll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. We've always been into production and collaborations."
Natalie
Mr Bryant frowned.
"Cross that bridge when you come to it, eh? So you're not making any attempts to further your education now?"
Natalie rolled her eyes. Here it comes.
"Honey," Mrs Bryant interupted, "I'm sure that Taylor has everything in hand. You did hear him when he said that he and his brothers run their own company? Now, that's experience right there."
Mr Bryant grumbled something.
Taylor
Taylor couldn't help but smile.
"We're looking at signing artists soon," he said, directing his conversation to Natalie's mother.
"There's a few local artists who really need a break, and if we have the funds we're willing to help them out any way we can."
Natalie
Mrs Bryant nodded.
"Sounds good," she said.
"I'm just curious," Mr Bryant said. "The reason my daughter has been healing you... what was the cause of that? Lifestyle?"
Taylor
"Mr. Bryant..." Taylor began shaking his head cautiously.
"No offence, but our lifestyles are not all cliche'd 'sex, drugs and rock'n'roll'. Except for the rock'n'roll part. The reason I'm being healed has nothing to do with my lifestyle, it has to do with something I went through some time ago that I'd rather not repeat in polite company."
Natalie
"Well, you have to admit," Mr Bryant said, "a lot of todays popular musicians - and people who mascarade as musicians - do fall into the fame trap and subsequencly into a less than healthy lifestyle. And then they proceed to pull down the people around them into that lifestyle also. So I'm sure you can understand my concern."
Taylor
"Oh of course," Taylor insisted.
"No, I understand completely where you're coming from. I just... appreciate that you're letting me explain that that's not how it works for us. We have a lot better things to spend our money on."
Natalie
Mr Bryant nodded, and his wife gave him a smile.
"Ahem, yes, well," he said, then looked at Natalie. "Don't you have a treatment to supply?"
Natalie hid her smile and stood up.
"Yep," she said.
Taylor
Taylor stood up as soon as she did.
"Where are we...?" he trailed off, bending down to take his drink with him.
Natalie
"My room. It's quieter," Natalie replied.
"Leave the door open," Mr Bryant said.
"Yes, Dad."
As Natalie turned, she stopped hiding the grin on her face.
"This way," she said to Taylor.
Taylor
"Um. Nice meeting you," Taylor gave her parents a nod, before following her from the room.
He began to breathe a lot easier when they were out of her parents' line of sight.
Natalie
"That went well," Natalie observed.
She grinned at Taylor.
"You really got him with the whole 'I appreciate you letting me explain thing', like he was giving you this huge favour when he was really trying to provoke you to anger. Ha, brilliant. He likes trying to make people angry. Shows their true colours and they blurt things out more, he thinks. Of course, it's not exactly a good way to make friends if you're provoking them to anger on your first meeting."
Taylor
"Really?" Taylor looked hopeful.
"I was kind of just hoping to throw him off asking about my income and personal life."
Natalie
"Yeah, he figures he'll get more information out of you by making you angry. Of course, if he makes you angry too quickly for his liking then he gets all snotty about how you're hot tempered and blah, blah, blah," Natalie waved her hand. "As long as he doesn't decide to latch onto his 'master manipulator' theory, which happens every now and then with people he can't provoke to anger, you're good. But he doesn't pull that out too often, just when he's in a paranoid mood. Anyway, this is my room."
Natalie opened up the door to reveal a jazzy pink-and-black room, mess on the floor, posters on the walls, desk, chair, bed, build in wardrobe, a large stereo system and an equally large collection of CDs.
"Excuse the mess."
Taylor
"I don't get angry easily," Taylor admitted, before stepping into her room.
"Nice," he nodded, already eyeing off the CD rack.
"So... how much do I have to take off?"
His face flushed red a little, but he quickly calmed it.
Natalie
"Umm," Natalie replied, her face going hot too, "just your shirt will be fine."
She turned to the bed and started straigtening it, even though it didn't actually need to be, because she was feeling a little embarrassed for some stupid reason. Which she berated herself for - nothing to be embarrassed about.
Taylor
Taylor looked back at the door, hating that it had to be open, before quickly taking his jacket and shirt off and shivering for a moment.
"I haven't had one of these for a long time," he held back a chuckle.
Natalie
"Heh, cool," Natalie replied. "I do actually have a massage bed, unfortunately it's packed away at the moment, and I haven't anywhere to put it even if I did pull it out. Plus it's a hassle to put together."
She moved away from the bed and glanced at the door, then grinned. She picked up a shoe, and put it in the doorway, then closed the door as far as it would close.
"Now anyone walking past - and unless Mom can prevent him Dad will at least once - won't be able to see what's happening on the bed. Ha!"
She beamed at Taylor.
Taylor
Taylor chuckled to himself, before sitting down onto the bed.
"How long do we do this for, if it works faster?" he raised an eyebrow.
Natalie
Natalie sat on the bed behind Taylor and made herself comfortable before putting her hands on his shoulders.
"Hmm, a month?" Natalie suggested.
She started working her fingers into his skin, her power coming into play immediately.
Taylor
Taylor smiled and rolled his head back so he was facing the ceiling.
"Awesome," he murmured.
"It'll be great to actually feel... well, normal again."
Natalie
Natalie smiled.
"I hope you're already feeling normal," she said, "even though there still some to go, you should be over the worse of it by now."
Taylor
"I hope so," Taylor breathed evenly.
"I really hope so. I hope that alterego is gone for good."
He raised his eyebrows.
"Though apparently Taya still has a lot of work to do."
Natalie
"Aww, well, I'm sure it won't last forever," Natalie replied. "I'm sure it'll be over soon. And then yay, Tay completely back to normal."
"And he won't need you any more either, so you'll never see him again," remarked a deviant little thought inside Natalie's head.
Taylor
"Well I don't know about completely," Taylor considered.
"But at least now I can call what happened an experience rather than... something damaging."
Natalie
"Very true," Natalie agreed.
She refused to think about the possibility that she and Taylor would lose contact with each other afterwards.
"So, how is the new album coming anyway? Got much recorded yet?"
Taylor
"The past couple of weeks have been very productive," Taylor's eyebrows rose, "quite a few songs are almost done, but I'm not sure if more than a few of them will be on the album."
He hesitated a moment, then twisted slightly and caught Natalie's wrist. He turned to look her in the eye.
"What are you worried about all of a sudden?" he asked.
Natalie
Natalie forced a laugh.
"Oh, umm, nothing," she replied. "Just umm... it's stupid. Don't worry about it. I don't even know why I'm worried about it."
Taylor
Taylor shook his head seriously.
"Don't do that," he said softly, not letting go of her hand.
"What are you worried about?"
Natalie
Natalie chewed her lip and looked away, finding the middle of Taylor's back rather fascinating all of a sudden (and then later realised that it really was fascinating... ahem).
"I just... it's stupid," she insisted. "Just that you might... might not be interested in seeing me again after this. Or that we'll lose contact or something. See? I told you it was stupid."
Oh great, and now tears were threatening to drip down her cheeks. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Taylor
Taylor hesitated at that, and lowered his eyes.
"If it calms you somewhat, I don't plan to lose contact with you anytime soon either," he revealed.
"And I kind of hope we never do."
Natalie
Natalie distrusted her voice for a moment, feeling those stupid tears lose grip in her eyes.
"See?" she said, forcing a cheerful tone, "I told you it was stupid. I mean, we're friends now and everything."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated a moment, before letting go of her hand. He reached up to her face and used his thumb to wipe away the tears he saw, before carefully leaning in toward her.
"And everything," he whispered, before kissing her gently.
Natalie
Natalie hesitated just a moment, before kissing him back. And it felt so, so good to finally admit how she felt.
The sound of footprints in the hall, however, caused her to pull away quickly, and get back to massaging Taylor's back.
Taylor
Taylor covered his mouth with his hand for a moment, not able to stop his face going red again.
He felt a little dizzy and wasn't sure why, but the footsteps had caught his attention as well.
Natalie
Mr Bryant poked his head in, and frowned a little at Taylor's shirtless state.
"How are things going?"
"Good thanks, Dad," Natalie replied.
He hesitated a moment before closing the door again.
"Well, I'll let you keep up the good work then..."
"Thanks."
Mr Bryant, if reluctantly, left.
Taylor
Taylor watched him leave, then caught his breath.
"Oops," was all he said, before he started laughing.
Natalie
Natalie joined in with the laughter. Then she blinked and broke off. She sort of felt around with her power a bit - her fingers moved over Taylor's back, but didn't actually massage.
"That's weird..." she murmered.
Taylor
"What?" Taylor turned slightly.
He couldn't wipe the smile from his face if he tried.
Natalie
"Well..." Natalie said slowly, still trying to figure it out, "it feels like a whole chunk of you had been randomly healed. Like if you had say, a gash on your arm, and you look away for two seconds, and all of a sudden it's disappeared. I think about a week's treatment has just disappeared. I mean, not that I'm complaining because that's less work for me, but..."
Taylor
"Really?" Taylor's expression instantly changed to curious.
He considered it for a moment, then turned to face her again, leaning on his right arm.
"Want to try that again then?" he chuckled.
Natalie
A smile spread across Natalie's face. Of course!
"S-sure..." she said.
A lot more nervous this time, she leant forward to touch her lips to his.
Taylor
Taylor shifted slightly so he was in a more comfortable position, before lifting his hand to her face as they kissed.
After some time, he let go and leant back slightly.
"I feel dizzy," he admitted softly.
Natalie
"A good sign?" Natalie suggested.
Her hand lingered on Taylor's cheek.
"Would you like to lie down?"
Taylor
"I'd better," Taylor agreed, holding his head for a moment.
He slid down onto his side so he was between her and the wall, his other hand covering his stomach.
"Think your Dad will come back?" he asked.
Natalie
Natalie shrugged.
"Maybe, as I said before, it depends on how well Mom can prevent him. She's a lot more considerate when it come to things like that."
Her hand still touching Taylor, she probed carefully, and smiled.
"Good news," she said softly. "We just knocked another week off."
This was so bizarre! She had no idea that a kiss could do so much.
Taylor
Taylor grinned at that.
"Wow," he said simply.
"There really is a lot more to you than meets the eye then."
Natalie
"Yeah..." Natalie shook her head. "I had absolutely no idea I could do that. None."
And yet, Natalie couldn't be certain that if she had known she would have suggested in in the first place.
Taylor
"Well I hope I'm right in guessing that you haven't exactly tried before," Taylor gave her a teasing wink.
"So... I guess this changes things a little..."
Natalie
Natalie nodded.
"Two more kisses and you'll be right," she said.
The prospect made her sad and happy at the same time. Happy, because of course, Taylor would be healed. But sad, because their weekly get togethers would no longer be neccesary. And she did enjoy them.
Taylor
"I'm not sure I could handle another two right now," Taylor couldn't help but chuckle.
"But I can tell you that I am feeling pretty good right now."
Natalie
Natalie smiled.
"That's cool," she said. "And I'm glad you're feeling better."
She shook her head in amazement.
"I have just done more healing in a few moments than I would have done in an hour. And I don't even feel all that worse for wear."
Cue the yawn.
Taylor
"And I feel more worn out than usual," Taylor looked confused.
He rolled a little so he was laying on his stomach.
"But that was really something."
Natalie
"Sorry," Natalie said. "Didn't mean to overwhelm you."
She moved around so she was sitting next to him and leaning against the head of the bed.
Taylor
"Do you have any friends that are like... obsessive fans of the band or anything?" Taylor asked suddenly.
"You know, the kind that would be jealous if we..."
He trailed off, not really wanting to be the one to decide the end of that sentence.
Natalie
Natalie grinned.
"Well, I do have friends who are fans. There's a lot of joking around about y'know, who would have who if we ever met," Natalie admitted, a blush coming on, "but nothing serious. I mean, I don't think that anyone would be jealous if something actually happened for real..."
Taylor
Taylor shifted again, so that he could lean up on his arms.
"Good," he nodded.
"So umm... I guess we have a bit of time on our hands now."
Natalie
"Yeah... wow, that's unusual," Natalie mused.
She looked around her room, uncertainly.
"Umm, anything in particular you'd like to do?"
Taylor
"If I could lift myself up fromt he bed I'd probably be checking out your CD collection," Taylor admitted.
"But somehow I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while."
Natalie
Natalie's look turned sympathetic.
"Sorry," she said again. "Didn't mean to drain you."
She glanced over at her CD collection.
"I'd say I have a few hundred CD's over there."
Taylor
"All the better," Taylor smirked.
"And don't be sorry. It's my fault too."
Natalie
Natalie chuckled.
"I sort them by artist," she said. "And I love my setero system - I can plug in five different CDs at once, stick on on 'repeat all' and 'shuffle' and listen to 'em for hours."
Taylor
"Nice," Taylor nodded with a smile.
"You should put something on. Maybe we'll find something interesting to go with it to talk about and fill in time."
Natalie
"Okay," Natalie said agreeably.
She stood and made her way over. After a few moments of thought, she selected five compilation albums. She put the CD's into the machine and before long music was barring out of the speakers. She quickly turned the volume down a couple of notches.
"I like to have it up loud," she said. "But my parents don't appreciate it so mcuh, so when they're here I have to keep it down to a 'respectable' level."
Taylor
"I guess they wouldn't like our place then," Taylor raised an eyebrow, before turning onto his side and leaning his head on his hand.
"It's kind of hard to keep it down."
Natalie
"Yeah, probably not," Natalie agreed.
She then spotted something out of the corner of her eye and focused on it.
"Oh! Did you want your shirt back?"
Not that she had any objection to looking at his bare chest...
Taylor
"Good idea," Taylor shrugged.
"Did you see the glare I got from your Dad?"
Natalie
Natalie chuckled and picked up Taylor's shirt.
"Yeah," she said. "I can just imagine him complaining to Mom about it. And Mom pointing out that I was going to do a massage, and that contact with your skin is neccesary, and we all know that by now..."
She grinned as she handed Taylor's shirt to him.
Taylor
Taylor chuckled, taking the shirt and forcing himself to sit up.
"What was he like with your last boyfriend?" he asked nonchalantly as he struggled to get the shirt on.
Natalie
"Oh, he was worse than this," Natalie replied. "He did start to warm up to him about the time we broke up though. We only went out for a couple of months though."
She sat back down on the bed.
Taylor
"A couple of months?" Taylor's eyebrows rose as he shook his hair out.
"Didn't sound too serious."
Natalie
Natalie shrugged.
"It was, but it wasn't," she said. "We were both serious, I guess, but we never really got comfortable with each other. I guess Dad didn't help with that."
Taylor
Taylor nodded to himself.
"How long have we known each other now?" he asked absently.
"It was New Years, wasn't it?"
Natalie
"Yeah, so... almost four months," Natalie nodded.
She shook her head, thinking it felt like much, much longer.
Taylor
Taylor nodded to himself, then blushed slightly.
"A lot longer than I knew my fiance before we started dating," he admitted sheepishly.
Natalie
Natalie smiled.
"Really? You must have been really crazy about each other," she said.
Taylor
"Crazy was probably the right word to use," Taylor couldn't help but shake his head.
He started to slip down onto his back again.
"We'd separated before she was killed," he admitted uneasily.
Natalie
"Oh, I'm sorry," Natalie replied.
Well, this was slightly awkward.
"How long were you dating for?"
Taylor
"I'm not sure," Taylor admitted, rather openly as he finally lay down on his back again.
"We started going out Valentine's Day in 2003. It was about March last year we separated. So just over a year. I think I proposed to her in August or September..."
Natalie
"Wow," Natalie replied.
Gee, that was fast.
"Well, umm, at least you seperated before tying the knot. It would have been really awkward afterwards."
Yeah, that was a sensitive thing to say.
Taylor
Taylor couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, it would have been," he agreed, his fingers playing on her lap.
"It wasn't the best birthday present to find out she'd cheated on me."
He looked up.
"I got a much better one this year," he smiled.
Natalie
Natalie looked at him with wide eyes.
"She cheated on you on your brithday?" she exclaimed. "Well, that was harsh. I mean, okay, it's harsh no matter when it is, but you know what I mean."
She reached a hand out to his cheek and caressed it softly.
Taylor
Taylor smirked, and opted not to mention Zac's part.
"I think I did something almost as bad to her though. We were somewhat separated already when she cheated," he shrugged.
"That was when my alterego first emerged."
Natalie
Natalie's eyebrows raised and she took her hand away and looked at him curiously.
"I see," she said, in a tone she hoped encouraged him to continue.
Taylor
Taylor raised his eyebrows at her.
"You want me to elaborate?" he pulled a face.
He held his breath for a moment.
"I ah..." he scratched his head awkwardly, "it was the night of the blood rain. Do you remember that?"
Natalie
Natalie shuddered.
"Ugh. Yeah that was gross. What about it?"
Taylor
"Well it was the first night I slipped into the alterego. And it goes without saying that I really scared Jane. But... She was empathic with animals, and she had this thing sort of like it where she'd practically go wolf. I think I drove her into that."
He bit his lip.
"I think I drove her into that and I think I raped her," he added quietly, bracing for a difficult reaction.
Natalie
Natalie was silent for a moment, and looked down at the bed.
"I... I see..." she said slowly. "Well, I'm... I'm glad I could get rid of him for you."
Taylor
"Not as glad as I am," Taylor insisted, reaching up to take her hand and looking up at her face.
"Nowhere near it, I assure you. It's one of the reasons I haven't seen the rest of my family in a long time, and now I might actually be able to go out in public without being watched."
Natalie
Taylor's enthusiastic response made Natalie smile. She gave his hand a squeeze.
"Well, good," she said. "Although I doubt that last part - I don't think any absense will be long enough to dissude some of your more rabid fans."
She winked at him teasingly.
Taylor
Taylor hesitated at that, then took a deep breath.
"Good point," he agreed, "I didn't actually think of that."
Natalie
Natalie giggled.
"See? That's a good reason for having me around. I think of these things. Plus, y'know, I know this girl that keeps threatening to hunt you down if you don't come out with an album soon. She's so funny. She's been threatening to hunt you down for years and still hasn't done it."
Taylor
Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"Well you can tell her there's one coming. Soon," Taylor nodded.
"Just as soon as we can decide what to put on it and what should be the first single and we do the cover artwork and organise promo..." he trailed off.
Natalie
Natalie giggled some more.
"Sounds like it's a long list," she said. "Anything I can do to help?"
Taylor
"Not that I know of, but thanks," Taylor chuckled.
"And yeah... long list. It'll take us a few months at least I guess. But it's not like we haven't started yet either."
Natalie
"Okay, cool," Natalie replied. "Well, I'm looking forward to the finished product anyway. I bet it'll be amazing. And I'm not saying that because I'm a fan or because we're friends now either. I did sit in on a few band practices."
Taylor
"Well at least you have reason to persuade your friends that it's worth waiting for," Taylor grinned, poking her gently.
"Put in a good word for us, right?"
Natalie
Natalie saluted.
"Sir, yes, sir," she joked. "I actually haven't told many of my friends that we've met. Y'know, I didn't want to be trying to answer too many questions about how we see each other ever Tuesday. Y'know, aside from the fact that your mental state is none of their business, I couldn't explain to my human friends even if it was. So, mostly I've kept my mouth shut. Which has been a test of my self control, let me tell you. But at least I can legitimately say we met at a New Years Party, without worrying about the implications of that."
Taylor
Taylor shrugged.
"Just say we met at the party and kept in contact. That's the truth."
He looked up.
"Any of your friends empathic?"
Natalie
Natalie shook her head.
"Funnily enough, no," she said. "I know a few people who are, but no one I'd actually call a friend."
Taylor
"All the better," Taylor insisted.
Then he hesitated.
"What are your parents?" he asked cautiously.
Natalie
"Their powers? Well, Mom has Sonics and Dad has Finder," Natalie replied. "He has a particular talent for finding lost socks."
She nodded.
Taylor
"I have sonics," Taylor smiled, mainly to himself.
"It's a part of Tongue. I don't know if you knew that already..."
Natalie
Natalie shook her head.
"That's cool," she said. "Funny how some powers can branch many powers."
Taylor
"Some of the rare ones I think," Taylor screwed his face up.
"Like mine or Guffery's. Ike would know more. Imagine having Guffery's - I don't think I could stand it. Never knowing what powers you're going to have."
Natalie
Natalie looked ta him curiously.
"Why?" she asked. "What is his power?"
Her knowledge on Guffrey was rather limited.
Taylor
"I don't remember what it's called, but he borrows powers," Taylor struggled to remember.
"Anyone within a certain radius with a power, he can take it. And he can have multiple powers at once. Other than that I don't know if there's many other specifics."
Natalie
Natalie raised her eyebrows.
"Oh, wow," she said. "That's completely insane. No wonder he's considred so dangerous."
Taylor
"Yeah, he is," Taylor sighed, shifting onto his back and leaning his head on his hands.
"As Ike said, we could definitely do without running into the likes of him again. I'm not sure he'd be able to find anyone else with that power, but you can't win them all."
Natalie
Natalie was confused for a moment.
"Oh, of course, Ike's power researching! Cool. Yeah, I imagine it would be a little tricky learning more about Guffrey's power," she said. "Although, if he finds anyone who Guffrey's used his power on, he may be able to learn something that way."
Taylor
Taylor just shook his head.
"He used his powers on me. In particular telepathy. I couldn't say much about it, it was just like normal telepathy. So he obviously doesn't get many side effects - if any - from the powers he obtains."
Natalie
"No, that's not what I mean," Natalie replied. "People who's powers he borrowed. Although, that also brings up another question... what level telepath did he borrow the telepathy from? Does lack of training affect his ability? Does he borrow the power at full strength, or does it only work at 90% or something? And when he borrows powers, is there a time limit, or does his, umm, victim have to remain in the area, or what? Maybe one victim won't have all the answers, but I bet if Ike can find a few of them, he could piece a few things together."
Taylor
Taylor nodded.
"Good idea," he agreed.
"If he took Tongue I couldn't tell. And I'm pretty sure as long as the powers stay in the area he can use them."
He hesitated thoughtfully.
"I wonder if we can actually find anyone he's touched before."
Natalie
"Yeah, that's the tricky bit," Natalie nodded. "Plus, there's also the fact that they may not want to talk about it. Let's face it, you guys don't want to meet Guffrey again, and you probably haven't spent nearly as much time as other have."
Taylor
Taylor lay in silence for a moment, before his eyes widened slightly.
"I think I know exactly who we could ask actually," he said.
"Unfortunately he's in rehab at the moment, but we should be able to see him soon and I'll bet anything he's spent a heck of a lot of time around Guffery."
Natalie
"You do? Rehab?" Natalie repeated, shaking her head. "Well, there you see? Rehab. Okay albiet I have no idea why he's there but I'd wager spending too much time with certain criminal masterminds could be traumatic for anyone."
Taylor
"Well..." Taylor began to look uncomfortable.
"He was raised by Craig Morrison. Apparently Guffery's been after him most of his life. If anyone knows how to avoid Guffery I'd say it'd be him."
Natalie
"Huh," Natalie replied. "Well, there you go... I wasn't actually asking for a life story, but, wow. Okay. That's sightly screwed up."
She shook her head again.
Taylor
"You don't know the half of it..." Taylor trailed off absently.
Then he looked up at her again.
"Maybe you'll get to meet him sometime soon."
Natalie
Natalie shrugged.
"Maybe. I guess that's between you and your friend," she said.
It was then that she glanced at the clock.
"Oh wow, the time's just flown," she said. "Tony'll probably be here soon."
Taylor
Taylor glanced at the clock, then covered his face and groaned.
"I so don't want to go anywhere," he mumbled, "not even home yet."
Natalie
"Aww," Natalie said. "Don't worry, Tay. The sooner we part ways the sooner we meet up again. Yay."
She paused.
"Y'know... next Tuesday..."
Taylor
"True that," Taylor smiled, reaching up to take her hand again.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Now I just need to get off this bed."
Natalie
Natalie laughed and got off the bed.
"Here," she said, taking his other hand as well, "let me help you."
And she began pulling him off the bed.
Taylor
Taylor chuckled as she pulled him from the bed.
He staggered a little, before straightening out his shirt.
"Well that was fun," he smirked, "I'll have to remember next time: be somewhere where I can sleep."
He looked around for his jacket, then went to get it.
Natalie
Natalie grinned.
"Sounds like a plan," she said.
She moved the shoes out of the door way and opened up the door.
Taylor
Taylor took a quick look around to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, before stepping through.
"Well at least your Dad only came through once," he said as he shrugged to fit his jacket on.
Natalie
Natalie followed him out the door.
"Yeah. Mom must have latched onto him," she said. "She's great like that."
She lead the way down the hall.
Taylor
"She has my thanks," Taylor murmured, secretly hoping Tony hadn't arrived yet.
Then he could hear the knock on the door and rolled his eyes again.
Natalie
"Sounds like Tony," Natalie said, turning in time to see the roll of Taylor's eyes. "Aww, don't worry, it's cool. Hey, see you next week okay?"
Out of the corner of her eye she saw her mother heading towards the front door.
Taylor
"I'm that transparent?" Taylor couldn't help but look partly ashamed.
"And sure. Are you coming to Tulsa or am I coming to Georgia this time?"
Natalie
"Umm, I think I'll go to Tulsa," Natalie replied. "I think it'll be safer, y'know, given the other residents of our respective homes."
She grinned at him.
"Nat! Taylor's ride is here!" Mrs Bryant called.
"Coming Mom!"
Taylor
"Done," Taylor grinned as they stepped out.
"Thanks Mrs Bryant. Hey Tony."
He turned back to Nat.
"I'll see you next week," he smiled, a little sadly.
Natalie
"See ya," Natalie replied. "Hi Tony. I'll be going to Taylor's place next week as usual."
"Okey-dokey," Tony nodded.
Taylor
"See you," Taylor smiled as they shut the door.
Then he sighed as he and Tony made the quick journey back to Tulsa.