xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan, yesterday

Angelo finds Nathan collapsed on the couch in his living quarters and they talk for a bit about such things as altitude sickness and hallucinations, before Nathan falls asleep.

He had actually been rather surprised not to find Angelo in the office, but Juliette had said something about him having headed up to the mansion to 'check' on something. Nathan had nodded, too tired to grill her, and gone upstairs to make his 'hi, I'm home' post before he totally ran out of energy.

That done, he decided that the couch was rather nice. He could stay on the couch. No real need to move to the bed.

He'd gone to call Amanda where Juliette couldn't overhear, as it happened - no need to risk her hearing things that even Angelo technically wasn't supposed to know about - and had stopped to look at the journal system before going back to the office. One brief comment later, he was on his way back to the boathouse.

"Stop looking at me in that tone of voice," Nathan muttered as Angelo appeared at the top of the stairs. He had sort of toppled sideways into a nice, comfortable sprawl. It was a very nice couch, really. "It's not my fault my brain is high-maintenance."

"Maybe not. But it is your fault if you forget that an' take your high-maintenance brain up mountains where people might be shootin' at you."

"There was actually very minimal shooting," Nathan protested, gesturing limply. "Dom blew some stuff up, but then, that's Dom... it was just a diversion, too. She didn't blow any people up."

"Yes, but your friend got shot, an' you didn't know there wouldn't be much when you went runnin' into it with altitude sickness. Did you?"

"I didn't anticipate the altitude sickness." This was a bizarre conversation. Nathan changed tactics and gave Angelo his very best puppy-dog eyes. "Aren't you happy to see me back?"

He relented slightly, though not all the way. "Course I am, 'specially in one piece. But I'd be happier about it if you hadn't come back talkin' about hallucinations."

Nathan sighed and sat up. "They weren't all that enjoyable," he confessed frankly. "I thought they were stress at first. It's not like I haven't seen my dead friends upon numerous other occasions." His mouth twisted in what might have been a smile. "And hey, happy ending this time."

"The part where you got David back in one piece, you mean?"

Nathan's expression softened, some of the tension draining away. "Yeah. When I got into the tent where they were holding him, the first thing he said was 'Where have you been?'"

Angelo chuckled. "Now there's gratitude for you. Get altitude sickness for the guy, an'..."

"Well, that's David," Nathan said, almost contentedly. "His excuse for a sense of humor has always gotten him in trouble." He rubbed at his eyes, then sighed. "Damn, I'm tired. And wow, did I pick the wrong week to go away, apparently."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it", Angelo said, smile vanishing instantly. "They got them back, though. An' they're all alive."

"I can just imagine the reactions when people found out they were with Manuel," Nathan murmured, his gray eyes knowing.

Angelo did not look down at the bandaged fingers on his right hand, and his shielding really had got better in the last year or two. "Yeah... a lot of people jumped to conclusions. But Marie seems to think he didn't do anythin' wrong" this time - "an' he did save Jennie."

"Mm. I want to hear all about it," Nathan said, and laid back down. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's good", Angelo agreed. "Oh, an' Sooraya wants to help keep the boathouse clean... or somethin'... I said she could if you said it was okay. Hey, it made her happy."

"Mm..." It was all the answer Angelo got. Nathan's breathing had slowed to the deeper rhythms of sleep almost instantaneously, the rest of the tension fading from his expression.

Angelo eyed him for a long few seconds, looking between him and the bedroom door, then decided that particular heavy lifting was beyond him, and just slipped quietly back down the stairs to the office.