xp_logs | Nathan and Jean-Paul, Friday afternoon

Jean-Paul helps Nathan do some shopping for Rachel's bedroom.

"Oh, God. They have a floor model."

In retrospect Nathan really shouldn't have been surprised that the 'deluxe princess bedroom dream set' was one of the store's showpieces. It was certainly... striking. He stared at it, slightly wide-eyed. "It didn't look this bad in the picture. So much pink..."

Jean-Paul was managing to keep a straight face, but just barely. As it was, the tiny princess crowns capping the posts of the pint-sized canopy bed made him want to twitch.

"At least we're decorating for someone with all the good taste to be expected of an artistically-inclined three-year-old." Even the chairs at the pink-and-gold tea table were wearing crowns. "Of course, we could always make some adjustments in the name of sanity. Of course, I mean 'safety'."

"Why couldn't she be a tomboy?" Nathan lamented, eyeing the miniature vanity with the triptych mirror. At least the very plush-looking mini-armchair was kind of cute. "But no, we must have all this feminine frippery..."

"We're in the right place if you want to do a return and exchange," the speedster pointed out. "We could stick with the princess theme while not indulging in..." He glanced back over at the collection of lavender and muted cerise. "Well, we could go for something a little more grown-up."

"Moira would probably trust to my judgement. It's not like Ray picked out this set - she just said 'pink', 'purple', and 'princessy'." Nathan looked away from the bedroom set, eyes moving over the rest of the sample sets. "I wouldn't want her to outgrow it too fast, though."

"That leaves us a lot of room to work with. There are many hues that would qualify as 'pink' or 'purple', but spare our eyes. If nothing else, we can find something to repaint." Jean-Paul glanced over his shoulder. "Is it just my usual misanthropy, or is every parent here looking at us as if we're going to eat their children?"

Nathan looked around at the other patrons of the furniture store, eyes narrowing - and then, rather abruptly, put an arm around Jean-Paul's shoulder. "I blame you," he said, all too cheerfully. "Our little girl gets all of her bad taste from you. Remember those awful, awful drapes you wanted to put in the bedroom?"

Jean-Paul blinked, then nearly choked as he tried to swallow his laughter. This was way too good to waste.

"Oh, fine," he huffed, louder-than-conversational as he tucked himself under Nate's arm. "It is always my fault, isn't it? I will not get in your way, then. I'll just lie back and let you ruin...oh, what about this?" He switched gears mid-flounce and towed Nate toward another set which happened to be under scrutiny by a red-faced gentleman who looked as if their display was about to send the top of his head popping off.

"I'm not sure," Nathan said, pouting thoughtfully at the set. "I mean, I suppose it's a little less frilly..." His eyes flickered towards the seething man, who was projecting all kinds of uncomplimentary things. Well, I don't like your suspenders, pal, Nathan thought, and rather pettily 'encouraged' them to let go, with a well-placed flicker of telekinesis.

"It still has a canopy," Jean-Paul argued. "How can you get any more princess-like..." He arched an eyebrow as the suspenders flopped loose and moved protectively close to Nathan. "He is spoken for. And I doubt you have anything impressive to show us."

Playing thought police, dear? Jean-Paul sent Nate's way, making no attempt to hide his amusement. Perhaps it was not quite fair to pick on the normals so, but he was having a very hard time feeling guilty about it.

#My ethics don't stretch to forbidding nasty TK tricks. They never have,# Nathan sent back as the other man beat a hasty retreat. He eyed the bedroom set, sighing. "I don't know," he said, more seriously. "Better, but still... is it ridiculous, that I'm really looking for something that's 'her'? I know what she'd like, but it's hard to match that with what I'm seeing."

"I'm not seeing the ridiculous here -- aside from the obvious, of course. She'd like the original set. That is good. If we can find something more 'her' that still meets her criteria, then so much the better. If not, we're still at 'good' and all we're out is time." Jean-Paul considered the new set again. "The canopy is nice, but the wood is very dark. It will not work well with the new walls. And she might think it is gloomy."

"She wants.... airy. Soft colors, fabrics you can see through." The look in Nathan's eyes was distant.

"So the hunt continues." Jean-Paul glanced up. "All right over there?"

"Rachel dreams about flying, you know. Sunny skies, fluffy white clouds... I still wasn't sleeping very well over on Muir, so I'd go sit by her bed for a little while and then take my sleeping pill like a good headcase and go to bed with Moira." Nathan's expression was tight as he turned away from the bedroom set, looking at the next in a way that suggested he wasn't really seeing it.

Jean-Paul fell into step. "You can't possibly expect to have gotten over it all at once. You're back here and feeling things out. That is better than before."

I didn't want to come back, Nathan thought, but didn't say. He was still trying to figure out what he did want to say when he saw it. "Well," he said in a very different tone. "That's maybe a little more like it."

The bedroom set he was looking at was still more or less the right colors, although the pink was a soft rose and the purple a misty lavender. It was the bed that had caught his eye; it was clearly supposed to be a carriage, gauzy fabric providing the 'roof' and curtains.

Jean-Paul reluctantly let the topic go, but stored it away as something to keep an eye out for. It was difficult to be dogged about the matter when the distraction was obviously making Nate feel better.

"It looks like someone sent Cinderella's coach to the chop shop," he commented. "I think she'll love it."

"I can see it," Nathan said quietly. The rest of the set was simpler -white-painted wood, still very princessy-looking in its design. The miniature chaise lounge made him smile. "Colors are still good... by Jove, I think we've got it." The thought of the look in her eyes when she came home and saw this was enough to brighten his mood considerably. "There's a limit to how much decorating we can do in her room at Muir," Nathan explained, gesturing to a clerk. "Kind of amusing, that we give her the princess bedroom here when her other home is a castle."