xp_logs | Nathan and Crystal - Breakfast in Hungary

Crystal and Nathan chat at the hotel on Margaret Island.

He hadn't seen anyone else as of yet this morning; catching a few hours of sleep, Nathan expected, after the overnight flight. It was too beautiful a day to be inside, even sleeping, however. He'd headed down to the hotel's terrace, where he'd ordered a light late breakfast, just bread and fruit and cheese, and was tucking into it with great enthusiasm. So much better than plane food...

The airport and the plane hadn't been what Crystal was used to when she traveled by air, even when that "traveling by air" was by means of a plane and not her own power. It had been... different. Interesting. Crowded. While musing on the conditions most people willingly subjected themselves to while flying on planes, Crystal caught sight of Nathan eating all alone.

"Good morning, Nathan," she said with a smile.

"Good morning, Crystal," he said, gesturing in invitation to the other chair at the table. "Did you get any sleep?" His coffee was a double espresso. He thought he might have a second.

"I rested on the plane," Crystal said after she'd been seated. "We are here for such a short time and I do not wish to sleep during all of it."

"I think I'll come back again this summer, when I have more time," Nathan said, spreading some butter on a piece of bread. "This is one of the few European capitals I've spent hardly any time in at all."

"Yes, I am sure that it is easier to go on planned trips for a longer period of time when classes are not in session," Crystal said. She doubted that saving the world needed to happen less during the summer than it did during the school year, though.

Nathan flagged down the waitress, so that Crystal could order something if she wanted. "I didn't take any vacation at all last summer. Bad call, really."

"Everyone needs to take a vacation now and again," Crystal said before placing her order. After the waitress had left, she added, "Especially people who save the world, and especially people who save the world, teach classes, work nonstop at an NGO, and take care of a telepathic telekinetic baby. Really, Nathan, if you keep overworking yourself you will continue to have people physically remove your work from your presence, not to mention the fact that people will constantly feel the need to feed you. Here you are, away from work, and you are eating without being reminded. This is a much better way, yes?"

She'd managed to say that with a perfectly straight face, which suggested that she was perfectly serious - which was funny and kind of cute, really, but Nathan didn't let himself smile. "Much," he said gravely. "I do hate being force-fed, or tag-teamed by redheads..."

"No, I think you just hate having them prevent you from working without taking any sort of a break," Crystal responded. "I think the feeding is expected by now. When you are working and you become hungry, your brain does not tell you that it is time for you to obtain food, it tells you that someone, possibly an army of small girls, will soon be coming to feed you."

"Too many years where I ate when I had a chance, and usually MREs," Nathan said more cheerfully. "Then a couple of years where I was unintentionally subsisting on the psionic energy in my system instead of normal meals. Food has never been a priority."

Subsisting on psionic energy... that certainly sounded... appetizing. "Clearly, though, you are capable of remembering to eat on your own." When you are not surrounded by piles of work. "Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery and a chance to relax. While I am on Muir, I will be sure to tell your wife that you wish to come back here in the summer so that she can remind you of this in case you forget." When you are surrounded by piles of work.

"'I'm going to sic your wife on you' would be a much more effective threat if Moira wasn't as much of a workaholic as I was," Nathan said, his eyes dancing with something close to mischief. "She understands. She's a wonderful understanding woman. And you, I believe, will have a very interesting internship with her. Muir really is a unique institution."

"Oh, it was not meant as a threat," Crystal replied with a smile. "It is simply something that needs to be done. Both of you should go, surely she could use a vacation, too, and I am certain that Rachel would enjoy it." Whether or not Hungary would enjoy Rachel was an entirely different matter. "I am looking forward to the internship. I am doing my best to learn all I can and I am glad to have the opportunity to work with Dr. MacTaggart on Muir."

"Make sure you take some time to enjoy the place, as well," was Nathan's advice. "Both Muir and the mainland. You've never been to Scotland, have you?"

Crystal shook her head. "No, I have not. I might stay for the weekend, if that is all right, and then I will have plenty of time to visit and enjoy the scenery."

"The scenery and the people," Nathan said with a smile. "I think you'd like Moira's Scots. They somehow manage to be warm and dignified at the same time." He took another sip of his coffee. "And make sure you bring some spending money. It's the land of beautiful handcrafted everything. The local artisans are astoundingly talented."

Ah, souvenirs. She should bring something back for her suitemates. Crystal wasn't sure what they would like, but she would manage. "The scenery and the people, then," Crystal amended her previous statement. "It sounds as though you enjoy the place very much. I hope that you will take the time out of your busy schedule to spend some time there yourself."

"I do, from time to time. Muir is home, really," Nathan said, as the waitress came back with Crystal's breakfast. "So. What are your plans for the day?"