xp_logs | Nathan and Moira, Tuesday afternoon

They shop. On Amazon. A lot.

Moira tapped on the computer and sighed. With classes over and Charles' insisting that she get some rest, she found herself with not a whole lot to do. It had been a while since she had been bored and while she was grateful to be between emergencies, for now she was having a little trouble handling the boredom. So far, she'd checked all her e-mail accounts, read and reread the latest on the journal system and waited for Lord Jacobs to get back in touch with her. It was rather interesting that it was Jacobs paying her a call; he'd been an old friend of her father's from way back and had even attended her wedding. Which would probably explain him calling. He'd disliked Joe with as much icy passion as her father had with his fierey one.

Moira sneaked a glance over at Nathan and smiled a little. "Entertain me?" she asked, hopefully.

Nathan looked up from where he was pretending to read 'The Pillars of the Earth'. He had been hoping it would get better, but no, the soap opera crap continued. Pushing himself up off the couch, he came over to stand behind her at the desk. "Let's shop," he suggested, snagging one of the extra chairs and pulling it over. She gave him a quizzical look and he grinned. "For books. Online. Come on, surely you've done it before. And I need something new to read, damn it." Something struck him, and he gazed down at her, his grin turning mischievous. "You should read more, Moira. For fun, I mean."

"I do read fer fun!" she protested, scooting over to make room for him at the computer. "'Tis nay me fault tha' I find scientific books fun." She waved at the screen. "An' I've done it before, 'ave me own page at Amazon an' everythin'." With a few taps, she brought up the book section of the web page. "Anythin' yer lookin' for in particular?"

He rubbed at his jaw thoughtfully, pausing for a moment to reflect that he really needed a shave. "Historical fiction," he said. "Something to replace the glorified bodice-ripper over there. And possibly more, given that I seem to be spending a distressing amount of time sitting around."

"'rm, tha'll pop up quite a few selections, I'm guessin'," she muttered, typing in 'historial fiction' in the search bar. "'ow many books ye thinkin', love? Or an open number?" Moira grinned over at him.

"Just exclude anything by Diana Gabaldon," he snorted, and then tilted his head, thinking about it a little more. "Pre-modern settings? There was just enough medieval detail among the sordid love triangles in that one to whet my appetite."

Snickering, Moira started to sort the results. "T' much fiction in th' historical fiction, I take it? Makes me glad I never did read tha' book."

"Oh, so you were giving me your rejects, were you?" he said, giving her a mock-wounded look. She shook her head at him, and he turned his attention back to the screen. "What about that one?" he said, indicating one of the titles currently displayed. "'When Christ And His Saints Slept'... I think I read a review of that one."

"Ooohh, tha' does sound interestin'." Moira remembered a time when she'd read anything that came at her. But that was years ago and before all the stresses and emergencies. Well, maybe it was time she started up again. She really needed a relaxing hobby, she supposed as she added that book to the shopping cart. Another title caught her eye. "'Th' Cabinet O' Curiosities'...sounds interestin'..."

"Add it," he suggested with a smile. She did, going back to the previous screen, and he couldn't help making an intrigued noise. "'The Dream of Scipio'! I've heard of that one; it takes place in three different time periods." She clicked on it, as well, and he chuckled. "Hey, add the other one by that author, too, 'The Incidence of the Fingerpost'. Always meant to read it."

Feeling a little guilty, she decided to add a couple of more books by the folks who wrote 'Cabinet'. The reviews of them fairly sang with praise. "Anythin' else catchin' yer eye in this genre?"

"Hmm. Not really." He pondered the problem, then grinned. "Hey, look up Clancy and see what else people who bought his books bought. I'm always interested in good knock-offs."

Giggling a little, she did as he suggested. "Oooo, somethin' called 'Th' Da Vinci Code' is on tha' list," Moira pointed out, scrolling down the page.

Nathan read the summary. "Sounds trashy in the good way," he said. "Add it."

"This is addictin'," was the cheerful reply as she hit enter. "Wha' else?"

He suggested literary fiction. She agreed enthusiastically, and by the time they were done in that particular section, they had nearly a dozen of the most notable award-winners from the last few years. After that, she batted her eyelashes at him and he grudgingly let her look at non-fiction. Sixteen books later, he insisted upon a brief dip into science fiction, and she scoffed at him, but called up that section of the site.

Moira would never admit it but some of the science fiction piqued her interest. When she refused to say out loud which ones, Nathan laughed at her and added them himself, one of the perks of the link she supposed, giggling. When those started creeping up into the teens, she protested and nudged him into another area of literature. They both avoided the cheap romance books like Lorna avoided decaf coffee but decided a look at some of the classical books might not be a bad idea.

"No erotica," Nathan said suddenly, as he saw that link on the sidebar. Moira raised an eyebrow at him, and he grinned slyly at her. "I have plenty of natural inspiration right here."

Laughing, Moira reached up to kiss him briefly. "Charmer," she replied, still giggling. "All right, nay erotica, promise. Philosphy?"

"Umm... sure, why not." He eyed her thoughtfully as she added a couple of the top-selling items to the list. "Umberto Eco," he said suddenly. "Never got to read anything besides 'The Name of the Rose'. I kept meaning to pick up some of his semiotics texts."

Humming a little, she added a few of the books he indicated to the cart and started scrolling through the rest of the books on the screen. What next, what next...this was fun, she realized, relaxing a little bit.

Almost fifteen minutes later, Nathan looked up at the shopping cart total and blinked. "Uhh... Moira, does that say five hundred and seventy three dollars or is it my eyes playing tricks on me again?"

Moira jerked her head up and blinked at the total. "...nay, it says five 'undred an' seventy three dollars..." She blinked again, confused.

"Hmm." Nathan said, and then smirked. "Some people binge on chocolate, you know."

She snickered. "We binge on books. Oohhh, me poor Amazon account..." She shook her head and mock glared at Nathan. "If I 'ear a peep out o' ye when these arrive tha' ye dinnae 'ave anythin' ta read..."

He raised his hands defensively. "No peeping," he promised, the grin returning. "At least for a few weeks."