xp_logs | Rahne and Nathan, Saturday morning

Rahne's turn to visit. Unsurprisingly, she manages the role of the 'quiet, low-stress visitor very well.

The next time he woke up, there was a redhead sitting beside his bed. Nathan turned his head towards her, a groggy smile tugging at his lips. "Hey," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "Didn't sense you there."

"Lady Moira said to try to think quietly," Rahne whispered back, trying a smile in return and getting about halfway there. "'Tis good to have ye back again."

"You are. Thinking quietly, I mean..." He trailed off, staring at her, just basking in her quiet presence for a long few moments. "So good to be back," he murmured finally, his eyes stinging a bit. "Moira... says you kept her company this week."

"Some of the time...."

"You were... at the art exhibit?" Nathan asked after another long pause. Remembering seeing that familiar small, red-haired figure running with the other students. "I..." His voice caught in his throat for a moment, and the drowsiness pushed at him, insistently. "Wish you hadn't had to see that..."

"Wish ye hadna had to live it." She swallowed. "I couldna do anything...." That had been one of the nicer things about Asgard; she'd been useful. At least among the pack. "Amanda did. Sleep spell...." It occurred to her after the fact to wonder if she'd been supposed to say so, but someone had probably already told him that. Another tiny smile. "Ye and these magic sleeps... I think we should keep ye away from spindles."

"Probably a good idea..." He reached out, laid his hand over hers where it was resting on the edge of the bed. "Didn't think I was going to ever get back," he whispered, his throat tightening. "I remembered you all, but..."

Rahne turned her hand over to hold onto his. "Doona think we ever stopped thinking about ye. Asking for ye back...."

"Then they sent me back, right back, but I couldn't..." He had to stop there, because otherwise he would be asleep before he finished the sentence. And he didn't want to tell Rahne how hard he had tried to fight it, how futile it had been...

"If yuir heart had been in it, ye could have killed... anybody there." Her voice came out calmer than she would have expected; the images behind her eyes were perfect, delicate glass plants, mixed strangely with the hard crack of bone under teeth. "Ye didna, in the end. Ye won that."

Nathan sighed heavily, holding onto her hand. "Part of me doesn't really... believe it's over, Rahne. Like waking up from a nightmare, but then falling asleep again."

Rahne bit her lip. "I doona ken if they'll try anything again," she said reluctantly. "I hope not. Pray not. But... we willna be giving up."

"Just so tired," he said with another sigh, his eyelids drooping again. "Charles being sneaky... not letting me get too alert..."

"Suppose I ought to let ye rest, then?" Rahne patted his hand with her free one and squeezed a bit. "'Tis all right to sleep. I'm pretty sure we're real."

"Just don't disappear," he murmured, his eyes closing. "Can sleep as long as I know you're all going to be here when I wake up."

"I'll do my best on that one."