xp_logs | Nathan and Rahne, very late Friday night

Rahne comes across an insomniac Nathan out watching the stars. They talk a little about sleep and the lack thereof, and Nathan agrees to try Rahne's oatmeal as a possible remedy for sleeplessness. They talk about her plans for the summer, Nathan tells her one of the things he and Moira settled while on Santorini, and then they wander upstairs so that Nathan can give her a couple of the gifts he and Moira brought back for her.

The night was warm, though not uncomfortably so. There was a nice breeze out here on the porch, and the skies were perfectly clear. A good night for stargazing, Nathan thought, slouching in his chair. It almost made the insomnia worth it.

The Askani were murmuring at the back of his mind, loud enough that he could pick out and identify individual voices. They were discussing how the class had gone. They seemed pleased, all in all, and justifiably so - the kids had been responsive, clearly interested in what had been said. Nathan just wished they would congratulate themselves a little more quietly.

Rahne had slipped outdoors for a run and a nap again, not necessarily in that order, and was trotting across the yard when she realized there was a bulky teacher in one of the porch chairs. She angled toward the porch and continued up to it, eventually standing up on her hind legs and half-transforming back when she got there. "Voices in yuir head keeping ye awake, or just out to look at the stars?"

Nathan smiled warmly at the girl. "I'd like to say the latter, but that wouldn't be truthful," he said. "Nice night for a run, I'd imagine?"

"Aye, and napping under trees." She settled in one of the other chairs, slightly distracted when she sat on her tail, and drew up her knees. "Are ye all right?" she asked hesitantly. "I saw that post....."

Nathan blinked at her for a moment, and then ahhed. "I'm okay," he told her, trying to sound reassuring. "It's back again tonight--the insomnia, I mean, but I was less strung out today than I thought I'd be. I'll go take a sleeping pill in a little while if I'm still not getting tired."

"Ye were talking about them being agitated and causing nightmares on purpose...."

"Oh." Nathan smiled a bit sheepishly. "She and I--Askani, that is, had a bit of a clash of wills yesterday. I won. Sort of. She wasn't happy. She gave me some fairly... pointed dreams last night when I finally did crash. Not really nightmares."

Rahne looked at him uncertainly. "I thought the class went all right...." She wasn't quite sure if she should ask further; she couldn't decide if he'd volunteered all he was willing to say or hadn't thought of all of it.

"It did," Nathan assured her. "They're quite happy, too. Just..." He stopped, shrugged a little. "I think they were just too active tonight, so I'm not able to sleep. There definitely seems to be a correlation, when I think back on the last several weeks."

"I suppose ye've already tried telling them yuir brain'll work better if they let it rest once in a while?"

"I don't think it's anything they really have control over," Nathan said. "I can hardly ask them to be quiet all the time." He chuckled softly, but it came out sounding tired. "I may just have to get used to sleeping less. Angie and I make quite the pair."

Rahne frowned at him. "Marie-Ange has at least got to the point where she doesna *seem* tired so much."

"Maybe I will too. It's not really been all that long since this started." Nathan gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Anyway, too nice a night to be worrying about this. You and I ought to run upstairs - I still have your gift from Santorini to give you. Moira has something, too."

"Canna help worrying, ye *sounded* worrying," she grumbled, though her ears actually perked visibly, if only barely, at the mention of a gift. "And thank ye... but... och, I doona know, are ye sure oatmeal and warm milk would be no help?"

Nathan gave it some serious thought. "You know, I'm willing to try? Anything is better than more drugs." He grinned at her. "And you make such good oatmeal."

"If the oatmeal doesna work, we can always try turkey."

***

"So," Nathan said, sampling the oatmeal. "What are your plans for the summer?"

Rahne blinked and looked up from her own bowl. "Well, I've been a wee bit slow getting anything started with the animal shelter, and I was thinking maybe it would be a good time for that. Angelo wants a dog to keep, if the Professor decides that'd be a good idea, and I think we can at least take a few to foster."

Nathan smiled at her. "Hey, getting stuff off the ground a little more slowly isn't such a bad thing. Allows the idea lots of time to percolate. And I still think it's a good one." He took a slightly larger spoonful of the oatmeal. "How do you make this taste so good?" he asked, shaking his head.

Rahne shrugged. "Pay a little attention while it's cooking and put more good things in it. We have some really nice stronger-flavoured honeys from the last time Lorna was shopping, too." She grinned at him. "I'm glad ye like it."

"That's one of the things we brought you back," Nathan said suddenly. "Greek honey. Apparently it's a special sort."

"Ooh." She sat up, looking interested. "I suppose it ought to be -- wonder what kind -- can ye get honey from olive trees?" She shook her head at herself, looking sheepish. "Well... first thing that came to mind."

Nathan closed his eyes, picturing the label for a moment. "Thyme honey," he said, remembering overhearing the shopkeeper and Moira talking. "That's what most of the honey they make in the Greek islands comes from. Supposed to be just about the best in the world."

"...Ooh. That does sound lovely."

Nathan opened his eyes again, applying himself to the oatmeal as diligently as he could. His appetite had been pretty poor the last couple of days too. It and the insomnia had to be related. "Moira had some in her tea the one morning," he said. "That's what gave her the idea to go pick up the bottle for you. We'd both gotten you something already at that point, so the honey was just a last-minute addition." He grinned a bit sheepishly. "We did way too much shopping," he confided. "I still have a stack of gifts to see to their intended recipients."

"It does sound like ye had a wonderful time. I saw the helmet...thing ye got for Angelo."

"I went very much overboard for a lot of people," Nathan said, but kept grinning. "It's been a while since I had people to spend money on, quite honestly. You should see some of the stuff I got for Moira that she doesn't know about yet."

"Are these things I'm *likely* to see eventually or things not for public display?'

Nathan laughed aloud, tickled by Rahne's blush. "A little from column A, a little from column B. More from column A, though."

Rahne applied herself to her midnight snack again, half not believing that had actually come out. "Good t'know," she mumbled.

"I actually need to set up something in order to give her the one gift," Nathan said thoughtfully. Rahne blinked at him, and he explained. "It's a necklace. I was thinking I might take her out somewhere for dinner that would involve dressing up, and then leave it in her jewelry box..."

Recovering a bit from the blushing, she grinned again. "That sounds... fun. Nice way to do it."

"She deserves nice surprises like that on a regular basis," Nathan said a bit wistfully. "I need to start making up a schedule."

"...An erratic one, to keep it surprising?"

Nathan grinned. "Yeah. Wouldn't want her less than surprised, ever." He ate some more of the oatmeal, then abruptly decided something. "Can you keep a secret, Rahne?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

She regarded him quizzically. "...I think so...."

Nathan laid his spoon down. "While Moira and I were away," he said, a bit more seriously, although he couldn't stifle the grin, "we agreed that at some point in the not too-distant future, I was going to ask her to marry me and she was going to say yes."

"Oh." Rahne's eyes widened a bit, and she found herself smiling back. "Well. Congratulations to both of ye, then."

"It was all very awkward of me," Nathan confessed, still grinning. "Asking her what she would say if I asked her... it's a good thing she's very forgiving." He chuckled, picking his spoon back up. "So that's the big surprise the little surprises would be leading up to. I need to come up with something truly creative."

Rahne dipped her spoon in her oatmeal thoughtfully and tried not to be *too* loud about the other thought that came to mind, which was that it was about time with the way they'd been carrying on. "To be suitably dramatic since ye already have the answer?" she asked. "Ye wouldna dump the oatmeal on me if I suggested serenading her with bagpipes, I hope?"

"Actually, not a bad thought," Nathan said mischievously. "I'll add it to the list of options." He tilted his head, his smile still lingering, but softening a little as he mulled over the stray thought he'd picked up from her. The house was quiet enough that it had been hard to miss, although Rahne was as soft-spoken in mind as she generally was in voice. "I hope you know that it's just a recognition of what's already there," he said more gently. "Even if Moira and I never did anything formal, I'm as committed to making her happy for the rest of her life as it's possible to be."

She blinked. Oops. Telepaths. "....That's better by far than a lot of people who make it formal and then doona act like they meant it," she said quietly. "...But I'm still glad yui're planning on it."

"I told her we ought to shout it from the hills," Nathan murmured, well aware he was getting totally sappy but figuring that Rahne would probably forgive him for it.

Rahne giggled. "Find a good hill, it deserves it."

***

"Where is it," Nathan muttered, digging in one of the bags. He glanced up, seeing Rahne was standing there watching him curiously. "Have a seat," he invited her, waving a hand at the couch. "This may take me a while."

She perched on the couch and looked around. For one thing, it didn't seem polite to watch too avidly as he hunted for her gift, and for another, the room had changed completely since she'd last been in it. "Decided to redecorate quite a bit? I like the green...."

"Well, since we had the opportunity, we figured something new might be nice." Nathan found the bottle of honey first, and smiled, floating it over to Rahne. "There's one," he said.

She picked it out of the air and examined the label. "Och, that's lovely. I'll have to try it before long." She looked up. "...I take it the Lady Moira's not sleeping tonight either? Do I need to take her a snack too?"

"She was working down in the lab. If she's not here by two--" Nathan stopped to check his watch, blinking as he realized they were only about five minutes short of that. "Well, if she's not back in a few minutes, I'll go down and haul her up here."

"Is it that late then?" Rahne shook her head. "I've at least *been* asleep -- I could worry about the two of ye."

"I think we encourage each other's bad habits," Nathan said a bit sheepishly, but then brightened. "Ah-hah," he said, pulling the flat, rectangular-ish box out of the bag. "Careful," he said, handing it over. "It's heavy, and a bit fragile."

She took it carefully and settled it on her knees to open the box, finding inside a small but exquisitely detailed mosaic that could have been one of the pictures he'd posted. "Oh, that's lovely....." She tilted it to watch the stones catch the light.

"Found it in a little art shop during our first shopping trip," Nathan said, smiling at her obvious appreciation. "I can't imagine how much work that took... it's so detailed." He peered down at the bag for a moment, then grinned. "I should probably not give you Moira's gift. She'd have my head. I think she wants to see your face."

"'Tis beautiful, thank ye so much... and, ah, aye, I'll wait." She laughed. "Though I'm curious now...."

"It's very nice," Nathan assured her. "But more of a girl thing than mine."

Rahne laughed. "I'm sure 'tis very nice. No hints, though, they just make me wonder."

"I ought to smack myself for being a tease," Nathan said with a chuckle, levitating the bag back into the closet. "Well, it's getting smaller," he said. "Still have a few people I haven't tracked down yet."

"Who're ye still looking for, and should I point them this way?"

"A few of the people who are currently away," he said. "And... hmm. Jane and Sam. That's about it, I think."

"Well, if I see either of them, I'll try to remember to think of it."

"Thanks, Rahne." He glanced at his watch again, then made a disapproving noise as he looked at the door and saw no Moira. "All right. Time to retrieve her, I think."

"And I ought to be going, then." She stood, cradling the mosaic -- it might be a good idea to put it in her room while Monet was likely to be asleep, at that.

"I'll walk downstairs with you," Nathan said, rising a bit awkwardly. "Oh, it's going to be good to get rid of the damned cast," he said. "This weekend, actually."

"I imagine that *would* be a relief." She glanced down. "I only ever broke my arm once, and it wasna very bad."

"Well, this is the last bone I'm breaking for a while," Nathan said with a fair amount of determination. "In fact, I fully intend not to get so much as a hangnail until at least the end of the summer."

"And I think *that* would be a relief for *everybody*."