xp_logs | Post-Christmas dinner at Billie's pub...

On Muir Island, Nathan, Angelo and some of the rest of the gang wander pub-wards for some beer and conversation after Christmas dinner at the castle. Domino and Angelo make a date to go cause trouble in Burma in the New Year. Highly appropriate toasts are made.

"Now, don't you love countries with sane drinking ages?" Domino asked teasingly, dropping down into the chair beside Angelo and sliding an arm around his shoulders in a quick half-hug after she sent his pint down in front of him.

Nathan laughed at them and then sipped at his own beer, glancing sideways at Ian, who was deeply involved in a bottle of Scotch. "Piers, you know you actually can't get drunk, right?" He was more or less absolutely positive that the morose act was just that; he and Ian had talked more than a few times over the last week or so.

"I'm pretending," Ian said very precisely, and gave the whole table what might have been termed puppy-dog eyes, if it hadn't been coming from someone with a feline-type feral mutation. "I want to show everyone that I'm really wrestling with this whole fatherhood thing."

David just snorted. "For God's sake, Ian, it's not that bad!"

"Seven months an' I'm legal everywhere that allows it at all", Angelo announced proudly as Dom nudged his pint closer to him. Then he grinned at Ian. "That's just a waste of good whiskey."

"Hardly a waste, Angelo. I am drinking it, aren't I?"

"Another baby," Theo said happily, sitting in one of the special chairs that Billie kept around for when he or Gavin was in town. "And Ani's so pretty - did you notice how pretty she is, Angelo? She's like... glowing."

Angelo laughed. "I saw. You're just waitin' to be Uncle Theo to another kid, aren't you?"

"There needs to be a dozen." Theo leaned down to Isabel's eye level as she sipped at her beer. "So what's taking you and Gavin?" She promptly snorted beer through her nose.

"I am not," she said once she'd recovered, a spark of good humor in her dark eyes, "the maternal type, Theo. Don't hold your breath."

"But Gavin likes kids."

"I'm thirty-six years old, Theo!"

Nathan was smiling a helpless, happy smile at the banter. It felt so good to be here with all of them - well, not quite all of them: Mina and Ani were up at the keep with Moira and some of the others were elsewhere, but it was a good sampling of his friends he had here. And he had missed them terribly. I really need to get over to Tel Aviv more often.

"If we could put the dynastic plans on hold for a minute, folks..." Nathan raised his glass. "To the New Year," he said impulsively. "May we make of ourselves nuisances in twice as many developing countries in 2007."

"Hear, hear!"

"To the New Year an' changin' things by sheer irritation", Angelo echoed, laughing and drinking deeply from his pint.

Nathan glared at him. Dom - and most of the rest of the table - just laughed. Dom was the only one who hugged Angelo again, though, letting her head rest on his shoulder for a moment. "So hey, you," she said as the table broke up into a few smaller sub-conversations. "Feel like going to Burma with me in a month or so? It might be exciting."

Angelo looked down at her in vague bemusement, but wrapped a companionable arm around her anyway. "What're you doin' in Burma? Not that I'm in any way sayin' no..."

"Assessing," David said from the other side of the table, stressing the word. "Human rights complaints relating to mutants. Assessing." He gave her a narrow-eyed look. "I can dig out the thesaurus if you need some synonyms to hammer home the point."

Domino rolled her eyes at him, straightening. "Mother hen," she groused.

"Hey, someone had to take over for GW." There was a brief silence at the table, before the conversations continued, a little more subdued. Nathan was staring down into his beer, his expression briefly morose in the way that was distinctly not an act.

Angelo glanced over at Dom. "So... human rights complaints, huh?"

"Well, it's not like anyone's human rights get respected in that particular country, but yeah, we've got some Reports of Interest and Joel is working on getting permission for a small team to go in under the guise of arranging humanitarian aid. Which we'll also do, obviously. It's just that we can't say openly we're looking into human rights abuses or we'll never get in there."

"I think I'm coming to Burma too," David said a bit dourly, eyeing her. "I'm not sure I trust you on your own, or even with Angelo... not in bloody Burma of all places." Domino stuck her tongue out at him.

Angelo clapped a hand to his heart, exaggeratedly hurt. "You don't trust me to keep her out of trouble, David?"

"I don't trust anyone to keep her out of trouble by themselves. This is the voice of experience talking."

"Yeah," Ian piped up after downing another glass of Scotch, "I remember I turned my back for all of... what, an hour in Angola? And whoosh, there she went!"

Nathan coughed on his mouthful of beer. "Yeah, there she went," he muttered, giving Ian a slightly dark look. The other man had the good taste to look somewhat abashed.

Angelo looked between them, with the beginnings of a wicked grin. "Now that sounds like a story. Spill."

Domino eyed Ian balefully. "No, let's not. Being kidnapped by Nathan's insane uncle was not one of those fun experiences you relive down at the pub."

"...aha. That time in Angola." He eyed Ian. "An' here I was thinkin' you meant somethin' funny."

"I just have no tact," Ian protested somewhat feebly. Nathan patted him on the shoulder.

"You're feral. It's a character trait, don't worry."

"This is true", Angelo agreed cheerfully. He might just have been thinking of Logan more than Kyle (although it was really true of Kyle as well.)