Monster Like You

Chapter 33

When the lock clicked so familiarly, Nathaniel had been awake for some time, but he was in no hurry to get up. Firstly, he had absolutely no idea what time it was. There were never any windows in his cell, so the lighting there remained the same at any time of the day or night. Secondly, he saw no point in getting up: no business was waiting for him and he could not influence his fate again. Thirdly, Vet was sleeping on his shoulder, his arm was lying under her, which made her mercilessly numb. But Nathaniel didn't want to disturb Vet. She's had a hard day, so much has fallen on her head... In her sleep, she seemed calm and peaceful, and Nathaniel did not want to deprive her of this respite. Let him sleep.

It didn't bother him that Sirius found them in the same bed. When he appeared in the cell and froze by the bed, trying to figure out if they were sleeping, Nathaniel just put his finger to his lips and looked expressively at Vet, as if to say, "Don't wake her up". Gervase nodded his head no less emphatically towards the kitchen corner, as if saying:

"Then we'll talk together for now," Nathaniel stirred cautiously, trying to get out of bed as carefully as possible.

He didn't have any spare clean clothes here, so the bathrobe that had been hanging in the bathroom since Nathaniel lived here came in handy. He could easily have appeared before Gervase without any clothes at all: after Penn's laboratory, he forgot how to be embarrassed. But Gervase would most likely perceive this as inappropriate behavior. And Nathaniel didn't want to look inadequate.

They moved to the kitchen counter, that is, as far away from Vet as possible, so as not to interfere with her. The kettle that she boiled a few hours ago, of course, has long cooled down. Draco reflexively poured himself some water: he was terribly thirsty and had been for a long time.

"Sorry to interrupt," Gervase apologized stiffly. "I didn't know that you... went to bed."

"Nothing. What happened? Is there any new information?" Nathaniel looked pointedly at the folder Gervase was holding in his hands.

He gave her a quick glance, sighed and put it on the counter.

"Nothing new. Just a selection of articles that Kiaran had. I thought maybe you'd be interested in taking a look at them. Everything is most... important here."

Continuing to drink water, Nathaniel squinted at the folder, feeling his stomach turn over. He understood why Gervase had brought it here. Certainly not to satisfy his curiosity, which Nathaniel did not feel at all. He understood everything from Kiaran's words. He realized what the future was waiting for him. Didn't want to know the sickening details.

But Gervase needed Nathaniel to know them. What did Kiaran say? "You would understand why we are doing this. And ideally, I would do everything myself." Gervase is a good man.

Nathaniel remembered that his prototype was genuinely attached to the old man. But he occupies a bad position in which he has to make difficult decisions. And sometimes, in order not to take everything on himself, Gervase preferred to manipulate people, forcing them to make the decisions he needed. How could he blame him for that?

Putting down his empty cup, Nathaniel reached for the folder, opened it and began to look through the printouts, many of which he had already glimpsed. Now he had the opportunity to run his eyes over the lines more thoughtfully. From time to time he stopped him in the photos, looking at them for a long time.

Geravse watched in silence, patiently waiting until Nathaniel had flipped through all the articles and closed the folder.

"Why do you think the articles remained, even though Kiaran's body disappeared?"

"Ask Elsdon," advised Nathaniel. "He's the expert on time travel."

"I asked. He believes that it is a matter of partially changing the future. The war that caused Kiaran to travel to our time is prevented, so he disappeared. And the appearance of Beast..."