xp_logs | Nathan, Amanda, Angelo and Haroun, backdated to December 31st

(OOC: Set before the arrival of Proteus.)

Nathan teases Amanda and Angelo about being careful with the Scottish beer, then asks them whether they'd prefer a little brother or a little sister. Things get a little mushy.

"Easy on the beer, trouble," Nathan said, sliding in next to her at the crowded bar. His eyes twinkled as she stuck her tongue out at him. "I know, I know, it's real beer and you've missed it terribly being stuck in the American wilderness, but I would hate to see you fall off your stool. Terribly undignified, don't you know."

"Never happen," she told him cheerfully. "I know how t' handle me booze - yer'd be better off worryin' 'bout Ange, since he's used t' that cat's piss they call beer in the States."

Nathan grinned down at her, then smiled at Anna as she handed him another glass of water before hustling down the bar to attend to another group of sleet-covered newcomers. "Place is filling up, isn't it?" he commented. "I'm half-afraid to see any more of the local matrons." His eyes danced wickedly. "They're not so sure they approve of me. Knocking up Lady Kinross before we're decently married..."

Amanda snickered. "You do realise you two can never get all moral at me about me habits, don't you? Since I'm not the one who got up the duff by accident." False alarms didn't count, nope. Besides, there were extenuating circumstances there. "You think a doctor'd know all that safe sex stuff..."

Nathan shook his head at her. "No," he disagreed with a wide grin, "I can still get moral at you. I've always been a big proponent of 'do as I say, not as I do'."

Angelo chose that moment to pop up next to them, his own beer in hand. "Hey, you two."

"You are a big fat hypocrite," Amanda finished telling Nathan, before sliding over slightly on her stool to make room for Angelo. "Hey, big brother! Nate's worried about the locals chasin' him with a shotgun 'cause of the bun in Moira's oven."

Nathan waggled a finger at her. "I said they're ambivalent. Big difference. I may have trespassed on conventional morality around here, but there's also going to be a new little Lord or Lady Kinross." He gave Angelo an assessing look. "You don't look like you're overindulging, at least."

Angelo grinned. "I'm just gettin' started. But I can hold my drink."

"That sounds like a challenge..." Amanda began, but subsided at Nathan's look. "I'll be good," Glancing around the rapidly-filling pub, she grinned and took another drink from the pint in her hand. "Nice place, this. I'd even go so far as t' say it's better than the places back in London, an' they don't get stupid 'bout me bein' six months' short of drinkin' age."

"Because you're Moira's guest, and it's a special occasion." Nathan poked her lightly in the shoulder. "So yes, you'll be good." He grinned suddenly at the two of them. "So, what do you think? Boy or girl? Which would you prefer?"

Angelo gave the question due consideration. "Well, I got a little sister right here. So, boy."

"See, that reasonin' only works for you, Ange, since I'd have t' say a girl since I've already got a big brother." Amanda gave Angelo a playful poke. "Tho' a girl'd be nice... I could check, if you like?" she added mischievously, waggling her fingers suggestively. "There's this thing you can do, with a strand of hair an' a ring..."

"Moira and I haven't talked about whether or not we want to know, yet," Nathan said mock-repressively. "So don't you go peeking. You keep happy secrets worse than anyone else I know." He paused, then smiled, the expression a bit subdued. "To be honest? Hoping for a girl. That would make things a little less complicated, I think."

Angelo looked at him, curious and a little worried, but didn't ask. "Hey - Amanda kept the secret after she knew, before the rest of us did. Didn't even tell me."

"Only 'cause it was for a day, if that," Amanda pointed out cheerfully. The beer-induced good mood didn't miss Nathan's change in expression, and she hugged his arm briefly. "But no peekin'. Girls're less trouble any way. Well, mostly. Look at Rahne - you could get a quiet little thing like her, be a right break after me an' Ange."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want a child, boy or girl, that would remind me of either of you, now would I?" Impulsively, he set his water down and slid an arm around each of them in a brief hug. "That would just be entirely too awkward. Really."

Angelo grinned, leaning into the hug quickly. "Confusin', too."

"Like it's not already?" Amanda said, giggling. "An' speakin' of our weird family... How'd Dom take the news? Wish I could've seen her face."

"She has Plans," Nathan said gravely. "Comprehensive and alarming plans to be 'Auntie Dom' and a thoroughly bad influence. I'm rather frightened."

A little later, Nathan catches up with Haroun. He asks him what he thinks of the place. The conversation gets around to the whole 'boy or girl' question again, and oddly, winds up on the subject of family names and what they really mean.

Haroun, after very nearly monopolizing the mistletoe sprig with Alison, sat himself down in a corner table and examined the pub. It was already filling with revellers and friends of Moira's, and Alison was off riding herd on Miles. Things were going fairly well - after his talk with Nathan, his mood had improved to the point where Alison had even asked him where his good cheer had come from. Life was, as they say, pretty good.

Nathan supposed he was fortunate in that he'd spent enough time on Muir to know most of the locals - and for them to know him - but he had fully expected to have to sit still for some Very Serious Talks once the news about the engagement and the baby got out. He was after all marrying - and had knocked up before the fact - Lady Kinross, and he considered himself lucky that he'd received only one or two clouts upside the head from outraged eldery women informing him he'd done things in the wrong order.

Spotting Haroun sitting alone at a table, Nathan detoured over there quickly, grinning. "Hide me," he joked.

"No way." he laughed, then motioned to an empty seat at his table. "These Sottish women are pure steel under all that wool and whatnot." he said. "Must have something to do with all the sheep."

Nathan sat down, still grinning. "It's a toss-up, you know. Whether they're pissed at me over having gotten her pregnant in advance of the wedding, or whether they're delighted with me for ensuring the succession." He shook his head a little, looking around at the people filling the pub. "They're a tiny bit traditional, up here."

Haroun laughed at that. "And here I thought they were progressive! I mean, they let their womenfolk out in public, faces and heads bare, and they'll even talk to men! Without being talked to first! Scandalous!" Haroun laughed again, thumping the table in his mirth.

Nathan laughed, slouching in his chair. "You're enjoying yourself," he accused merrily. "I saw you and Alison under the mistletoe, don't think I didn't."

"Impossible." he said cheerfully. "Would I do such a thing? Would SHE?" he grinned. "Be very careful - you wouldn't want to insult the songbird's honor."

"Heavens, no. She might challenge me to a duel, and we couldn't have that." Nathan took a long sip of his drink - water, given that he really wasn't wanting to risk coming off as at all inebriated in this particular company. "So what do you think of it all?" he asked, waving a hand in a gesture that could have meant the pub, or the town, or this little portion of Northern Scotland in general.

"Very different." said Haroun, being just as vague as Nathan was. "They're a good people, I think. They don't get too many Africans up here, I've noticed. A few like to stare."

"They are rather isolated," Nathan said. "Which is, oddly enough, not such a bad thing." He shrugged. "If you'd asked me ten years ago if isolation could be a positive influence on a community, I'd have said no, for obvious reasons. But as much as they do have some of the hundred-miles-from-nowhere type vices, they've also managed to hold onto an awful lot in the way of virtue, too."

"Virtues of their vices, and vice-versa?" Haroun said with another smile. "Or something like that. Dammit, Jim, I'm an engineer, not a poet!" He then cracked into another laugh. "Seriously - they're good people, all in all. Now, if they would just see the righteousness of Allah, and give over on this Jesus Christ nonsense, then they'd just about be perfect." He grinned to let Nathan know that he was joking. Mostly.

A group over by the bar broke into an incomprehensible Highland folksong, and Nathan grinned, raising his water glass in a half-salute. "This is me being very, very glad that Muir's an island and the weather is miserable. Otherwise I suspect we'd be having the locals over serenading the expectant mother on a nightly basis."

Haroun winced at the locals. "Aiee, it's a good thing indeed." he agreed. "I like my music in Arabic, and/or sung by a certain former rockstar of our mutual acquaintance..."

Nathan grinned, then mimicked the local accent. "The rest o' our guests from across th' water seem t'be enjoyin' themselves."

Haroun winced again. "Take the wool out of your mouth and try that again?" he smirked. "And yeah, they are. I think getting out for a while is doing everyone a world of good."

"I'm just so glad to be back here," Nathan said. "Crazy as the mansion is, I love it, but this is home. I have these wonderful mental images of Moira and I growing old here..." Okay, he'd laid off the alcohol, so why was he getting so maudlin?

Haroun looked at Nathan cross-eyed. "You're already old." he teased. "So you've got that part covered."

"Older, then. Pedant." Nathan took another sip of his water. "She was so glad to be home," he said suddenly. "Don't get me wrong, she wants to be at the mansion, feels needed there, but I'm thinking she's not spending enough time here."

"There's probably something you can do to fix that, you know." Haroun suggested. "Ever think about taking some young Turk, straight out of Med school, and training him to be Moira's assistant? That way, while the two of you are gallivanting around at Muir, the Mansion's got stuff covered."

"I'll add it to the list of possible options. Something definitely needs to be done - I'm just not sure what, yet." He grinned. "Of course, you never know. Things might calm down at the mansion sufficiently that she and I can start getting away on a regular basis for a few days at a time."

Haroun snorted. Loudly. "Of course. Everyone should have a dream." he said. "And speaking of dreams, I really do need to talk to Moira. Do you know much about her work, the kinds of things she can do? I'm interested in neural grafting and flash-growth of human musculature and bone." he said transparently. "I hear there's some impressive work being done in that area, especially in neural grafting."

Nathan made a thoughtful noise. Not hard to see where this was going. "I'm really not sure if that's her sort of thing, Haroun," he confessed. "But if it's not, she will almost certainly know who's field it is. And will probably have cooperated with them on something or other, or at the very least had meals with them at several different conferences... the length and breadth of her connections in the medical field are scary."

"Because I like the 'ware, but if at all possible I'd like to be whole. Since, like I said, everyone should have a dream." Haroun mused. "Gah. Something about this time of year makes me introspective."

"Talk to her," Nathan advised. "You and she have gotten more comfortable around each other, yes? Like I said, if she herself can't help, she'll know someone who can - or who is willing to try, at least."

Haroun nodded. "I will. Admittedly, her life's about to go all pear-shaped on her - literally! - but I think I can get the ball rolling before she gets too incapicatated."

Nathan waggled a warning finger at him. "I wouldn't phrase it like that, if the question of why you decided to bring this up now comes up," he warned, grinning. "Suggest to Moira that pregnancy's going to incapacitate her and she's liable to take your head off. Her temper is... a tad on the touchy side these days."

"Understatement, if anything." Haroun said with an exaggerated shudder. "Besides, that's my niece she's carrying." he said with a laugh. "Or my nephew. But I will school my words when I talk to her."

Nathan waved a hand at him. "Let's not start speculating about gender, okay? I'm just... not ready to go there, yet," he said, grinning helplessly. "Although - and I'll deny I said this if you tell anyone - I'm hoping for a girl who takes after her mother in every way." Okay, so the grin was probably getting a little sappy. Ah, well.

"It would probably be best for all of us if you get your wish." said Haroun. "And you don't want a son, to carry your name when you are gone?" He then winced as he mentally kicked himself. Way to bring up prior history, you dumb Moor. "Sorry. That was thoughtless of me." he apologized.

Nathan's smile wobbled a bit, but then steadied, and he waved a hand at Haroun again, brushing off the apology. "Actually," he said, his voice quite a bit lower, "this isn't something I've talked to Moira about yet, but I don't want to give the kid my name at all. I'd be perfectly happy to have him or her a Kinross."

"With all the work you've put in on making something of it, I would have thought ... never mind. Our ways are different. And is that so? A Kinross? Interesting. Has she started looking at names yet?" he asked with a grin. "Then again, you're probably sick of people asking, no?"

"We may have perused the odd baby name book over Christmas," Nathan confessed. "As for the rest..." He shrugged, a bit uneasily. "I'd rather have my son or daughter bearing the name of a family that means something. A Kinross, at least around here, is respected. Respect for the name, for the people who held the name..." His smile turned a bit defensive. "Apart from the fact that I don't want my child having anything to do with my side of the family, I don't even know if Dayspring was my father's real name, or just something he dubbed himself when he decided he wanted to be a sadistic Social Darwinist cultist. There's not a lot of meaning to it one way or the other."

"Be a good time to found a new line, carve meaning out for yourself with word and deed. But like I said, your ways are not my ways." he said apologetically. "I do see your point about the Kinrosses. It's easy to see the family's well-liked here."

"That's another reason to make that choice, if Moira's all right with it," Nathan said, deliberately pushing away thoughts of his father. This was really not the time or place. "I'm all right with being semi-nomadic, or having a few different places I call home, but it's important to me that this child has this place. And not just like I have it, as a visitor who has admittedly been pretty much accepted as one of their own, but... as his or her own natural place in the world. If that makes any sense."

"You make being nomadic sound like a bad thing." Haroun laughed. "But it's a good point, and it sounds like you honestly have the child's interests at heart - and that it's not just cowardice and hiding behind your wife-to-be." he said sharply.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Were you just psychically possessed by Jack Leary or something?" he asked with a smile that might have been a little tight. "That sounds like something he would have said."

"Who's Jack Leary? And no, as far as I can tell I'm not possessed. I should go find Alison and be sure." he said, motioning to get up. "And while I'm up - want a refill on that water? Since I'm getting one for myself?"

"My therapist. Who is going to show up to the mansion one day informing me he's found my family, I suspect." Nathan handed the glass to Haroun. "I'm practicing my enthused face in anticipation. Really."

Haroun made his way up to the bar, snagged two bottles of water from the very bemused-looking barkeep, and then returned to the table, dropping one bottle in Nathan's lap. "There you go." he said with a grin. "You know how I feel about family. You don't like yours - that's fine, they've treated you quite horribly. But this is your chance to make a NEW one! To forge a name for yourself and your child, to bring something good into the world!"

"When did I say I wasn't planning to do that?" Nathan asked, unscrewing the lid on the bottle of water. "I like the feeling of... clan, up here. I want that for the baby. Hell, even my ghosts like the idea."

Haroun's face darkened. "They would." he grumbled, but chased away his irritability with a deep drink of his water. "Doesn't the Kinross name already have that history and depth and meaning that you were looking to forge?"

"It does," Nathan said, "but the baby is also going to be a Kinross." He was feeling oddly defensive about this conversation. Not enough to break it off, or be visibly agitated, but... he just couldn't figure out what Haroun wanted to hear. It was like he was falling short, in the younger man's assessment, and that bothered him. "Doesn't he or she deserve to take full advantage of all that history and depth and meaning?"

"Sure." agreed Haroun with a firm nod. "Ahhh, this is probably one of those cultural divide things. You have no sense of family, of having roots, so you lean on the Askani and on Moira's good name. Me, it's very different where I come from. Even the wretches on the street have names - some of them were once quite glorious." Which just reminded him that his branch of the family died with him, and that was too depressing to be considered. "Anyway."

"Leaning? I'm not leaning," Nathan muttered. "Did I say anything about changing my name myself? I know I'm not getting rid of what passes for my roots..."

"You are you trying to convince, you, me, or Them?" Haroun pointed out, then took another drink. "But now is not the time for that talk, man. Too many good things going on in life."

Nathan shook it off, as much as he could, and managed an only slightly tight smile in response. "True enough," he said firmly. "So how long are you and Alison and Miles staying?"

"A few days. Depends on her, really. 'Bird's flightworthy and Scott's keeping an eye on her. Black's on active, so as long as nothing major pops up we should be able to stay for a few more days. Depends on Alison and Miles, really." he said with a shrug. "They might have plans I am not privy to."

"Well, you're certainly welcome to stay." Nathan's smile steadied a little. "Who knows, we might even get a clear night so that we can test out the telescope. Now that I'm sighted and all..."

"A shame that a servant of God doesn't indulge in drink." Haroun said mournfully. "I saw the distillery with Alison and Miles. Didn't go in, of course, but I hear a lot of people who do sin that way rave about good Scotch."

"Aren't you always telling me that Allah is forgiving?" Nathan asked innocently.

"He is." Haroun said with a laugh. "But a righteous man shouldn't always be sinning and then asking for forgiveness. However, if you are tempting me into sin, you're doing a very good job. One taste will not damn me for all time."

"I'll be right back," Nathan said with a chuckle, rising from his seat. "I'll ask the bartender for just a little bit of liquid sin..." He paused, blinking as he sensed... something, tugging at the periphery of his much-extended telepathic range. It was there and then gone again, and Nathan shrugged at Haroun's questioning look, then headed over to the bar.