xp_logs | Nathan and Angelo, very early Saturday morning

They go out looking for a suitable waterfall, and talk about pneumonia and Rachel.

"...only for you would I get up before proper light an' come out to look at frozen waterfalls."

"It needs to be just right," Nathan said merrily as they headed up the canyon. "Not too tall, not too wide... the ice has to be stable-looking..."

Angelo just eyed him. "Yeah, I get that, but... we couldn't have done this after dawn?"

"But we don't want to waste any of the morning," Nathan said innocently. "Mid-morning is for climbing, my boy!" He was in an indecently good mood. He needed to do this sort of thing more often.

"...yeah, well. I'm here, for whatever that says. Anythin' else we're lookin' for in our waterfall?"

"The color of the ice," Nathan said, and went on to explain just what he meant by that. "... so that's good ice, and that's the sort we want to be climbing on. Not anything like that," he said, gesturing at a waterfall that was so broad that the ice was actually minimal. "Straight shot upwards, with nice thick ice."

Angelo grinned at him, suddenly pleased. "You're cheerful today. Havin' fun?"

Nathan looked back at him, a bit startled by the comment, but the gray eyes that met Angelo's were clear and happy, and his lips curved in a grin almost immediately. "Yes, I am. Fresh air, gorgeous scenery, a whole pack of kids to introduce to how much damned fun this is."

"'s good to see", Angelo continued sincerely. "Specially after the last few weeks."

Nathan laughed briefly as they headed up the trail. "Been a hell of a 2007 so far." He was breathing a little harder than he should be, but, well, lingering effects of the pneumonia. "We've kind of been going from thing to thing. We as in the team, I mean. These months where that happens are always hard..."

"I noticed", Angelo said dryly. "An' I guess there isn't much of anythin' anyone can do about it?"

"Pick yourself up and deal with the next crisis, but that's about it." Nathan tilted his head, his smile turning quizzical. "I just realized I've done two of those four missions with pneumonia. I seem to be going to the other extreme from my old Captain Medlab persona."

Angelo blinked at that, then gave him a hard look. "You realize that's not really a good thing? Do that again an' I'm tellin' Moira."

"Angelo, come on, I'm fine. I've still got the damned cough, and I still get tired too quickly, but that's it."

"An' that's not enough to be goin' on with?" Angelo demanded. "Anyone else, they'd be thinkin', hey, maybe that means I should be takin' it easy until it goes away."

"I took it easy for nearly ten days, and it just about killed me," Nathan said wryly. "I'll sleep when I'm dead. Too much to do, too little time..."

That got him another narrow-eyed look. "People worry about me when I say stuff like that. Maybe I should sic my teen girl army on you too."

"I have been targeted by the teen girl army often enough, Angelo. I know their wiley ways." His expression was a little more serious as he glanced back over his shoulder at Angelo. "I'm okay, really. Mostly BSing, here... I've had Ray, so I haven't been working stupidly long hours.

"How's she doin', anyway?" Angelo asked, relenting somewhat with a slight nod. "I saw Ororo's post about the medicine."

"She's pretty much over it, I think. She was behaving just perfectly for Moira last night, of course," Nathan said dryly. "I'm such a pushover."

Angelo chuckled. "Only if you were actually lettin' the screamin' make any difference. An' even if you were, I don't see how you could not."

"She winds me up, you know, the little monster. If I don't pay close enough attention to the link she influences me through it. I'm actually a disadvantage, as compared to her mother."

"..seriously? When'd she learn to do that on purpose?"

"Oh, she doesn't do it on purpose. It's totally instinctive." Nathan paused, almost dramatically. "I hope."

Angelo stared at him for a moment, then cracked up.