Angelo and Nathan, Sunday afternoon

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On a quiet Sunday afternoon, Angelo and Nathan ponder the wisdom of a field trip, given recent events. They opt to believe that fortune favors the bold.



When Angelo opened the boathouse door, he found Nathan on the phone - the house phone, thankfully, not the phone in the office, otherwise Nathan knew there would have been Words. He waved a hand at Angelo but most of his attention stayed on the conversation.

"That's reasonable," he agreed. "And you do have the opening? .... I can't commit just yet, but tomorrow morning at the latest... oh, good. I'll call back in any case. It's just a question of when, exactly." He smiled. "Thanks again," he said, and hung up.

Angelo was sitting in one of the office chairs with his feet on his desk, and raised his eyebrows at Nathan as he emerged from the living area. "Bookin' somethin'?"

"Yeah," Nathan said, making a bit of a face. "The ice-climbing trip. Maybe. I hesitate to suggest a field trip again this soon, but if we don't do it soon we won't get a chance this winter."

"Maybe don't put it in those terms?" Angelo suggested, shrugging. "Or maybe just hope this'll be the one to break the streak. Seemed like there was a good bit of interest."

"There was, but I'm not sure I want to take the inevitable slings and arrows of 'Field trip? The man who took us to a major riot wants to take us ice climbing this soon after the mass comas'?" Nathan's grimace deepened as he went over to his desk.

"Hey, the riot was ages ago", Angelo tried to reassure him. "Not everybody here now was even here then. An' you had nothin' to do with the mass comas."

"The riot lives on in collective memory. And I just..." Nathan sighed and sank into his chair, running a hand through his hair. "My patience is not of the strong this week." He was still feeling fairly lousy, which made him wonder if he really ought to be scheduling the ice climbing at all.

"Yeah? You okay?" It was a casual question. Mostly.

"Tired," Nathan muttered. "Takes a while for us old men to recover from pneumonia, you know."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. ...when d'you say you were plannin' the trip for, again?"

"Friday-Saturday, I was thinking. That was one of the climbing schools I was talking to - they can do a training session with us on the Friday afternoon, and then I could lead a climb on the Saturday."

"An' you're goin' to be over the pneumonia by then?"

"I'm over the worst of it now," Nathan protested. "Another few days of rest and I should be fine. And it's just ice climbing," he said with a sudden, crooked grin. "It's not like I'm going into combat."

"This is true", Angelo allowed. "But you're the one talkin' about bein' tired."

"Rachel decided she didn't want to sleep last night. Hence why she's been out like a light all afternoon," Nathan said with a fond look in the direction of the nursery.

Angelo followed his eyes, frowning slightly. "Any idea why? She's not normally like that, is she?"

"Oh, she has her nights. Kept putting the rail down on her crib last night for some reason - it's not like she can't float out if she wants."

"Hm. An' she's still too young to explain what's goin' on in there."

Nathan laughed somewhat helplessly, rubbing at his eyes. "She's a baby, Angelo, she doesn't have to be rational. The most I managed to get was that she was terribly peeved about something."

"Yeah, but even if it's not a rational somethin', it's still a somethin'", he pointed out.

"I wonder how parents with normal children do it, sometimes," Nathan said dryly. "Or whether every parent wishes they were a telepath..."

"Probably they do", Angelo said lightly. "One time or another."

Nathan leaned back in the chair, eyeing him. "So if I schedule this trip, are you coming?" he asked.

"Wouldn't miss it", was the instant answer. "You know I like climbin'."

"Well... maybe we ought to give this a try," Nathan conceded, somewhat warily. "They don't have to come, after all, if the idea of a field trip terrifies them."

"Course they don't. An' I think some of them might be disappointed if you do cancel it."

"You think so?" Nathan's lips twitched. "'Come climbing up a frozen waterfall with the crazy man - doesn't this sound fun!'"

"Well, how many people said they'd already go?"

"Several, actually." Nathan rubbed his eyes. "Okay, enough hemming and hawing. I'll call them back tomorrow and book, and make an announcement - if we don't get a horde, we don't get a horde. I know there were some people really looking forward to it."

"There, see? Some people'll go, even if it is a crazy man takin' them up a frozen waterfall."

There was a noise from the nursery and Nathan heaved himself to his feet. "Coming, your Majesty," he called.

Angelo laughed and stayed where he was. "Bring her out here, if she doesn't go right back to sleep."

Nathan emerged after a few minutes with a very sulky-looking Rachel, who was muttering to herself even as she laid her head on her father's shoulder. "Look who's here, Ms. Crankypants."

"Meh."

"Hey, Ray", Angelo said, swinging his feet down off the desk and sitting up a bit. "What's wrong, huh?"

"She's a little hot, actually," Nathan said, frowning as he laid a hand against her forehead. Rachel gave another mutter. "Don't tell me you're getting sick, munchkin."

"Daaaaa."

"Well, that'd certainly be a somethin'", Angelo said with a worried frown, hopping up. "Babies do, though, an' it's not..." He came over to pat a tiny hand, though.

Rachel whimpered and pulled at her ear. Nathan frowned and gave her a very intent look. "Ahh," he said finally. "Shall we go in and see Mom and Evil Aunt Amelia?" He glanced at Angelo. "Her ear hurts," he explained. "Maybe an infection... that would explain why she's so cross."

"Could be. An' if it's been since last night, with her not able to tell anybody... poor munchkin. Not been havin' a fun time?"

"I'm going to take her in," Nathan said, moving back into the living room and heading in the direction of the closet. "You weren't here to work, I trust? On a Sunday?"

"Nah. Just stopped in to visit. I'll come back up with you."

Comments

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Come climbing up a frozen waterfall with the crazy man - doesn't this sound fun!

Crystal says yes, she'll take climbing up a frozen waterfall with the crazy man over mass comas resulting in a mutantless dreamworld any day.