xp_logs | Nathan and Moira - Santorini, day 4

Moira and Nathan visit an archaeological site and a museum, then retire to the hotel room to discover new and exciting uses for baklava.

"I am in heaven," Nathan said in awe, wide-eyed as he looked around at the ruins of Akrotiri. He had read about this place, of course - it was one of the most important prehistoric sites in the Aegean - but it was so much more impressive in person. "People were living here six thousand years ago," he murmured, shaking his head as he took in the carefully excavated buildings. "For four thousand years. Moira, this is so incredible." Hurray for volcanoes, he thought in wonder. There wouldn't have been nearly this level of preservation, otherwise.

Moira turned, face alight with excitement. "Stunnin'," she breathed, staring at the remnants of a wall. Science was her first love of but history followed rather doggedly close behind. She stepped closer and studied where pieces had broken off. History, to her, told a story that science helped explain. The link was abuzz with their shared excitement, and she looked over her shoulder at Nathan, beaming.

The rough ground was a bit awkward with the crutch, but Nathan ignored the discomfort completely, too enraptured to care. "This is the West House, I guess," he said, glancing down at the map they'd been given at the entrance to the site and then hobbling closer to the building. "Look at what's left of this frieze - it shows the Theran fleet visiting different ports on a trade voyage."

She turned her attention to the frieze, studying it for a few seconds. "Th' level o' detail...after all these years. A lot's lost, aye, but 'tis amazin' there's this much left." What was left of the door to the second room called out to her and she stepped through, blinking at the sight. "Nathan, come take a look? Another one but whoever did it repeated it eight times...think 'tis 'as some meanin' Or did they jus' like it tha' much?" There was some teasing enjoyment in her voice as she waited for Nathan to join her.

"Interesting," Nathan said avidly as he hobbled over to join her. "So interesting..." He had been a little loathe to get up this morning - he hadn't slept well last night, after their conversation out on the volcanic island - but he was so glad he had.

Moira smiled up at him and touched his arm gently as she moved around to get a closer look. "'ell, an' people complain 'bout 'ow 'ard it 'tis ta put detail in their work these days. Imagine back then, usin' th' tools they 'ad?"

Nathan looked down at her, grinning. "Craftsmanship is craftsmanship," he pronounced firmly, and then peered down at the map again. "Xeste 3 - it's supposed to be some kind of religious building with lots more frescoes. Want to go take a look?"

An eyebrow quirked. "Aye, tha' sounds interestin'. Then again, this whole place sounds interestin'." Moira grinned back up at him, slipping an arm around his waist as they walked. "Bet Dom's goin' ta 'ave a 'eart attack when she sees th' pictures."

"I am very glad I brought extra memory sticks for the camera," Nathan agreed seriously.

***

Moira sighed and relaxed in the air-conditioned rooms of the Musuem of Prehistoric Thera. She and Nathan had gone over what felt like every inch of Akrotiri that the public was allowed to see, and it hadn't been that much trouble to go from there to here. Though she was incredibly grateful for the blasts of cool air. While nowhere near as hot as America currently was, Santorini's climate was still hard to get used to.

A wall-painting caught her eye as she moved slowly through the exhibits. She blinked and craned her neck before giggling slightly. "Look! Blue monkeys!" Really, she had no idea why she found that so entertaining. But it was a magnificent painting.

Nathan grinned a bit wearily, looking over her shoulder at the blue monkeys. "They're very... monkey-like," he agreed, and then spotted a small bench. "Look, somewhere to sit," he joked in relief, hobbling over there.

"Ye should 'ave said somethin' before we came in," she chided, sitting next to him as he collapsed, cast-encased leg sticking out in front. "We could 'ave gone back ta th' 'otel so ye could rest."

"But I did want to see the museum," Nathan said with a sigh, still grinning. "Just needed a pit stop, that's all."

Shaking her head, Moira leaned against him briefly. "Yer somethin' else. Ye know this, right?"

"Silly," Nathan said gravely. "That's the word you're looking for."

"Amon' many others," she teased, enjoying the cool marble of the seat against her legs. "Thank God for shorts."

Nathan reached out and took her hand in his, the grin still lingering. "So," he said. "Think we've done enough local color for the day?"

Linking her fingers through his she nodded. "Aye, as lovely as it is. Ready ta go back ta th' 'otel an' relax?"

"Let's find someplace to eat, first," he suggested. "Saw a little cafe on the way in that looked nice."

"Ooo, food would be good," she agreed. "Glad me idea worked...yer appetite's seems ta be comin' back."

Nathan gave her a mock-suspicious look. "Your idea?"

Moira rolled her eyes at him and kissed on on the cheek. "My idea 'bout th' climate 'elpin' yer appetite once ye found this place, ye daft man," she teased, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Ahh," he said wisely. "Here I thought you were plotting against me."

***

Moira quirked an eyebrow at Nathan as she stepped back into the bedroom. "More food? Ye werenae full after dinner earlier?" she teased, nodding to the few plates he had ordered. She had gone outside for a few minutes while she thought he had been sleeping...granted, she hadn't meant to fall asleep on the lounge chair. Rubbing the back of her neck to get the cricks out from sleeping oddly, she kicked off her shoes to join him, eyeing the food with interest. It was a good sign that he was getting hungrier faster though, she reflected, relieved.

"Well," Nathan said dryly, "we didn't have any dessert at the cafe, remember? I thought I would rectify that." He eyed the plates a bit skeptically. "I may have gone just a little bit overboard," he admitted, studying the variety of pastries and cookies, most of which appeared to involve honey in some way, shape, or form "There's fruit?" he ventured, pointing to the candied figs. "Um, technically?"

"Fruit's supposed ta be good for ye," Moira pointed out, sitting next to him. Really, she was trying not to laugh. "An' we're on vacation, love, means we can 'ave all th' dessert we want an' it won't 'arm us." At the skeptical look he gave her, she laughed. "Me mum always broke her diets when we went on vacation." Reaching over, she picked up the candied fig and experimentally tasted it. "...would 'elp if I liked figs, aye?"

Nathan chuckled, then tried a piece of the baklava. "Mmm... forget what I said about going overboard," he murmured.

"We deserve it," Moira responded, stealing a bit of the baklava. "Goin' overboard is good for us."

"I don't think either of us knows how to live any other way, to be perfectly honest," Nathan said with a slow smile, watching her lick honey off her fingers.

She made a thoughtful noise as she chased escaping honey down her wrist. "I think yer right," Moira admitted slowly. "We dinnae exactly do anythin' in wee doses, do we?" Her voice trailed off a little when she noticed him watching rather intently and she blinked but grinned a little. Keeping an eye on him, she slowly licked the rest of it off her hand. "Wha' else did ye order?"

"It all seems to involve honey," he murmured, the smile playing on his lips. "Which is, you know, very messy." He deliberately projected a few suggestive images down the link, waiting to see if she blushed.

A light blush crossed her nose and cheeks but Moira grinned impishly and reached over to scoop some honey onto a finger. "But messy can be good," she said lightly, almost touching his lips with the honey, a playful spark in her eyes. "If'n it's one we can clean up."

Nathan deliberately licked the honey off her finger. #I'm not sure whether the kids would be cooing or shrieking and hiding their faces if they could see us now,# he sent.

#Probably bot',# she responded, shivering at the sensation he made. Moira leaned closer, almost close enough to kiss and smirked. "'ow big o' a mess do ye want ta make?" she murmured.

Instead of answering, Nathan merely grinned wickedly, moving the plate out from between them and onto the bedside table, and then pulling Moira down across his lap. "I was thinking," he said, dipping his fingers into the rather large amount of excess honey on the plate, "that a very nice decorative effect could be achieved." He proceeded to demonstrate, slowly enough to make her squirm. "Perfect night to be wearing a top that low-cut, too," he said with a straight face, leaving one last streak of honey that ended just where the neckline of her tank-top started. "Transient art, but still art," he proclaimed happily, then bent his head and started to work his way back up, just as slowly.

Any other time, the sensation would have made her giggle but now it just left her breathless. "Art good enough ta eat?" she breathed, eyes fluttering a little when she felt his mouth trace some of the patterns he had drawn in honey. Some of the honey had started to slide down her neck and Moira's breath caught as Nathan chased after that before it fell into her hair. Smirking a little, she lifted her head just enough to nip lightly at his ear as he slowly came back up her body.

"Quite," Nathan said, just as breathlessly. The link was glowing steadily, warming with every passing second, and he laughed softly. "Don't think I've got the patience to try that again, though..." He kissed her, a hard, hungry kiss. Still tasting the honey, he reflected dimly.

Moira moaned and arched up into the kiss, reaching up an arm to wind around his neck as one of his hands twisted through her hair. The other one started to play with the sensitive spots on her neck. "Good, neither do I," she gasped when the kiss broke, half sitting up so she could get to his neck, trying to find a better position than the half-sprawl she was currently in.

"Did I say I was tired?" Nathan murmured, shifting them around with the help of a little levitation, lowering her to the bed. "Suddenly I have all this energy," he confessed, undoing the buttons on her shorts.

"Must be all tha' 'oney ye jus' ate." At times, she figured they had managed to come up with the quickest way to get rid of the all the stupid, unnecessary clothing. After the last few pieces came off, Moira tugged him down sharply, leaning in for another kiss, still tasting that honey, as her hands moved down his chest gently.

"Oh, so I'm on a sugar high?" he whispered mischievously, then made a thoughtful noise. "You're getting a tan line," he said with a grin, tracing it lightly, teasingly. "You, tanning..."

"Ye sure tha's nay a burn..." Her voice cut off with a sigh as Nathan lowered his head to start tracing the line with his mouth.

Her skin was warmish, which made him think that yes, she had gotten a bit of a burn. "Don't think I could ever get tired of touching you," he murmured, letting his hands slide down her sides to rest on her hips. "Really don't..."

She flushed slightly at the compliment and sighed as Nathan laughed against her skin and now followed the path of the blush. There were no words to convey how she felt so she pushed them gently down the link towards him, while running her nails lightly against his back and shoulders, hitting his sensitive spots.

He was going to be so glad to get rid of this cast, Nathan thought, and then stopped thinking about unimportant little details like that.