xp_logs | Kevin and Nathan | Friday, appx. 6pm

Kevin begrudgingly comes in from his hiding place to find Nathan in his room setting up his new roommate

He was a shameless break-and-enter artist, Nathan thought, whistling cheerfully as he went about his business, arranging the items in the little aquarium carefully. A very perfect little beach was emerging out of the chaos. The book of instructions he'd bought had been very helpful.

"Almost done," he told the creature in the little box beside the aquarium. "And here's hoping Kevin comes back before Jay. I'd hate to have to explain this to Mr. Guthrie."

Kevin had been hiding out at the tree with Yvette's tree house all afternoon. The sun starting to go down had cooled things off enough that the three thin layers he had on weren't enough to keep the chill away any longer. He'd only begrudgingly accepted his fate of returning to the school's interior after a bit of a mental argument with himself. Rubbing his arms he left his hiding place, book in tow. Of course, Kevin liked to think of it more along the lines of spending time with nature, as blatant as a lie as that may have been as far as intention went. However, it was true in practice and so Kevin felt he could get away with it.

He could hear someone speaking inside the suite just before he opened the door but he, naturally, assumed it was Jay or someone with Jay. It was not Jay. "Uh, hi Mister Dayspring. Whatcha doin' in here?" The teenager couldn't see around Nathan so he had no idea what the man was up to.

"Setting things up for your new roommate," was the very cheery response. "Want to come over and give me your two cents' worth on the placement of the plants? I want this to be the very epitome of beaches."

"Roommate?" Kevin was pretty sure there were only two people to a suite post-graduation, weren't there? "Whaddya talkin' 'bout, Mr. Dayspring?" He scratched his head and finally shrugged, sighing as he closed the door. Walking over to where Nathan was Kevin came around to see a little beach being formed in an aquarium. "Mah new roommate's a fish person?"

"I think he'd be offended if you called him a fish," Nathan said with a sort of fiendish glee, inclining his head at the little box. Which rattled.

An eyebrow immediately shot up when the box rattled. "Ah've got a roommate tha' fits inna box?" Now he was entirely wary. The joy on Mr. Dayspring's face wasn't helping. Kevin tapped on the box's top and heard a scuttling. He quickly took a step backward.

Nathan laughed, although it wasn't a mocking sound at all. "It's okay. He won't bite, although he might pinch." The top of the box opened itself, floating over and back down to the table.

Kevin gave Nathan another curious look until the box opened. He peered inside the box and saw a tiny little crab with one seemingly giant claw. "Uh, Mister Dayspring?" He had a crab for a roommate? Literally?

"You need a pet," Nathan said briskly. "Something living to look after, but something that won't demand cuddling and lots of physical contact. This is my attempt at amateur psycho-babble for the week. Enjoy it, I'm told it's rather amusing."

Kevin's eyebrows immediately shot upward. "Ya got me a pet?" It was kind of nice, actually, though wholly unexpected. And he'd thought about it, that was the thing. Nathan had actually thought about a pet Kevin could have where it'd be okay that it not curl up with him at night. People didn't do stuff like that for him. Ever. Then he realized he now had to care for a crab of all things. "Uh, Mister Dayspring? Ya reali'e Ah'm from Atlan'a, righ'? We're an inlan' people in Atlan'a. Wha' Ah know 'bout keepin' a crab alive?"

Nathan reached over to the other side of the aquarium and picked up a small, hardcover book of the type you could find in just about any petstore. This one, however was 'Crabs: A Brief Introduction'. "I bought you a book."

Kevin took the book and read the title. The simplicity of Nathan's statement in addition to the rather idiot-proof variety of book he was likely holding given the title actually made him laugh. "Ah coul' fall sleep readin' this an' wake up onna pile o' ashes by mistake," he warned. Of course, Kevin wasn't actually sure that was true. He was mostly joking with Nathan anyway, but he really wasn't sure what they used to make the pages glossy so for all he knew it was actually impervious to him. He flipped through the pages, glancing at the illustrations and photos.

"There are many helpful websites online about fiddler crabs and keeping them as pets, if anything should happen to the book. I know, because it was one of them which gave me the idea in the first place," Nathan said with a perfectly straight face, and decided he was finished fussing with the beach. He glanced down at said fiddler crab and it floated up into the air and over to the tank, waving its one giant claw menacingly. "Settle down, little guy," Nathan said, and the crab came to a very gentle landing in his new home.

Though he certainly felt it was deserved, Kevin managed to stifle the urge to call Nathan a smartass. "Duly noted," he replied with a nod instead. The teenager watched the poor little crab float through the air and into the aquarium. Peering into the tank from the top he watched his new little miniature pet for a few moments. "'E needs a name. 'E can't jus' not have a name. Even mah gloom cloud got a name."

"Well, he is a male, as I said. Apart from that, I'm coming up short on a name for a fiddler crab. Maybe you need to get to know him for a couple of days?"

Kevin frowned. "Mister Dayspring, how'd ya feel not havin' a name jus' 'cause you gone done and moved?" He shook his head and then sighed. "Suppose Ah can' do much 'bout it though. Ah can't stick 'im wit' a bad name an' have it haunt 'im."

Nathan stuck a finger in front of the crab, who obligingly pinched it. "Ouch," he said, amused. "I think he's got a bit of an attitude. Rattled around in his box all the way home."

Kevin sniggered behind his hand that had come up immediately to cover his mouth in an effort to stifle his immediate laughter. "Ah'd say he'll fi' in jus' fine 'round here, then. Gotta have some attitude ta put up wit' me an' Jay, King of Moltin'."

Kevin had laughed. Nathan smiled smugly - and then frowned as the little crab refused to let go of his finger.