xp_logs | Amanda, Nate - Saturday morning

Nathan, Amanda and another of their outings. Well-earned relaxation time for both of them.

"So are you sure you had enough breakfast?" Nathan asked with a crooked smile as he backed the car up and pulled out of the garage. "I mean, I made what, a couple of dozen pancakes? And you couldn't have had more than half... I'm just worried you're not going to have enough fuel for the day."

Amanda poked her tongue out at him. "At least I'm eatin' proper again," she said tartly. "'Sides, I ate too much last night out with Manuel. Thai food's really good."

The grin broadened. "So I have a future as a restaurant reviewer? That's what you're saying?"

"I've never had a problem with yer recommendations," she replied with an answering grin. "An' Manuel liked it too, an' he's harder t' please than me, so yeah, you did all right."

The roads were clear - it would be an easy drive into the city. "He and I had quite the talk, when I gave him that recommendation," he said a bit quizzically. "Still feels strange to be able to just sit down and talk to him..."

She snorted a little. "You're tellin' me - he keeps bringin' out these little things that he remembers, but never talked about before." The expression on her face was both pleased and confused. "'S good, but hard t' adjust to, y'know?"

"I can't imagine what it's like from your end of that link," Nathan said wryly. "So long as it stays good, whatever difficulties you run into, I'd say you're ahead of the game, though." He stopped at a stop sign, raising a hand to rub his eyes. Last night had been yet another exercise in not-sleeping, despite how good the session with Jack had been. It was beginning to add up.

Raising her eyebrows slightly at the gesture - and how exhausted he looked - Amanda held her tongue and didn't ask if he was up for this. He wouldn't have suggested it if he wasn't, and if there was one thing she'd learned from the mess with Hank's post about her magic, it was that being treated like a baby wasn't exactly good for the pride. "So far, so good," she agreed. "He's tryin', an' it's hard on him, havin' t' deal with everythin' he's done, but at least he's tryin'. 'S like it might have been before, if the whole thing with his memory hadn't happened." Deciding a subject change was in order - changed or not, Manuel tended to be an awkward subject for the two of them - she asked: "So, what's the plan for today? Strange didn't seem too bothered by me missin' class - if anythin', he sounded relieved. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was nervous 'bout somethin'."

Nathan smiled. "Photography exhibition," he said. "It's called 'The Living City' - shots of various cities around the world, that sort of thing. I thought you might like it." He checked in both directions and then drove onwards. "Then we can get some lunch. And hell, if you're up for shopping afterwards..."

"Ooh, that sounds brilliant." Amanda bounced a little in her seat. "An' only if it's the good sort of shoppin'. Music an' the like. Hey, if I ask really nice, can we stop at one of the magic bookshops? I won't do any magic, I promise, I just want t' see what they have."

"Sure we can," Nathan said amiably. "And it'll be the good sort of shopping. Although I may have to stop at some place that sells overpriced chocolate. Moira was making small disappointed noises at the lack of chocolate in the suite this morning."

"It'll be a stretch, but I think I can handle that," Amanda said with a snicker. "So she's in full cravin' mode?"

"Pretty much. You know, the cravings come across the link, too? Very odd. At least it's not the morning sickness that does that." Nathan could feel himself relaxing a little as he drove. It was a very pleasant sort of realization. Maybe a day out was precisely what the doctor ordered.

"At least you can't be one of those gits who reckons cravin's an' the like don't exist," Amanda said, chuckling. "Not that Moira'd let you get away with that."

"No indeed," Nathan agreed. They were starting to drive into traffic, and he slowed down a little. "Hey, I talked to Dom last night, by the way."

"How is she?" Amanda asked, interest perking. "I haven't really talked to her since Pete... yeah," she ended lamely. "She doin' all right? An' the rest of 'em?"

"Dom's good. Worried about Pete still, I think, but sounding a lot calmer than the last time I talked to her." Nathan frowned at someone in an SUV who passed them at far too high a rate of speed. "Everyone else is doing just fine, too. Although Ani and Mick are leaving to join Tim."

"In Spain?" she asked, frowning a little. "They gunna be all right?"

"I hope so," Nathan said, mustering what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Mick's pretty damned determined, which is a good sign, I think. Given how much trouble he's been having." Okay, subject change. He probably shouldn't have mentioned that; she was far from slow, and she'd picked up enough from him and Pete this year to know what centralizing your forces tended to mean. "Did I tell you I made some calls this morning about the wedding?" he asked, honestly not remembering. "Just to start the whole thing off... Moira's so busy lately."

"No, you hadn't... so you're finally gettin' yer acts together, are you?" Amanda teased, more easily distracted than Nathan might have thought, but glad to get away from the topic herself. "I was thinkin' I was gunna have t' offer t' glamour away Moira's bump if you didn't get 'round to it soon."

"Oh, fuck... don't even mention that, please? I think she'll smother me in my sleep if I don't help her get this wedding over and done with before she looks huge in her dress. She keeps looking at dress pictures and sighing woefully. It's disturbing." Nathan coughed. "I mean, not that she's going to look anything but beautiful, even when she's big, but... you know what I mean, right?"

"Okay, no glamours." Amanda hadn't been serious any way. "So, gotten as far as an actual date, or are you still dodgin' that?"

"Not absolutely sure. April or May, maybe... we left the whole planning thing a little too late to have it any sooner, I think. From the sounds of what the nice florists and caterers were telling me this morning." He grinned wryly at Amanda. "I'll intercede when it comes to the bridesmaid dresses as much as I can, but don't be too surprised if she wants to see you looking 'cute'."

"Bridesmaid?" Amanda squeaked. She knew she'd been in the wedding, but it had all seemed to abstract... "Oh, bollocks. I mean, yeah, I'd love t' help an' all, but I was thinkin' I'd be in the background with everyone else, an' I've seen the sorts of things people make bridesmaids wear, an'... Nothin' frilly? Or pink? Please?"

It was really not at all fair to snicker at her. Really. He needed to stop. "I can just about guarantee," he said as solemnly as he could - which wasn't particularly solemn, "that there will be no pink in Moira's wedding. She's a redhead, remember? It clashes."

"It does? Oh, all right then." Clearly Marie-Ange's fashion tips were not completely absorbed. "Think I could talk Moira into pants?"

Nathan opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Not a chance in hell," he said cheerfully.

"Bugger," Amanda sighed. It looked like she was going to be doomed to cuteness.

---

Nathan stopped in front of a picture of a small sidewalk cafe in Paris, smiling. "This looks like a cafe Moira and I have in common," he told Amanda. "Ran into her totally by chance. She was wearing the most ridiculous-looking hat. Huge and floppy."

"Like that one she wears in summer?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she examined the photo. "Had a mate who went t' Paris once. Said it smelled like cat piss."

"Very much the same general hat, yes." Nathan tilted his head in an echo of Amanda's gesture, peering at the picture. "I don't know... Paris is far from my favorite city in Europe, but it does have its moments. I'm most partial to Florence. Or Strasbourg. Or Istanbul, actually."

"Angie showed me some pictures of the town she's from - that looks nice. But yeah, Paris... from what I've heard, 's not that nice. An' I agree with you on Istanbul. I loved it there." Pausing in front of another photograph, Amanda made a small appreciative noise. "This one's good - see how they're got the whole light an' shade thing in the composition?"

"Uh-huh," Nathan said obligingly. "I like the cat. It's posing." And it was. Sitting on the windowsill, very clearly posing for the camera. "Reminds me of someone."

"Someone purple who like pastrami?" Amanda suggested, chuckling. "I've still got cat hair all over me from the other day. Not that I mind how it got there - this pouncin' thing's got somethin' t' be said for it."

They moved onto the next one, and Nathan chuckled. "Speaking of Istanbul," he said, studying the very nice shot of the spice bazaar. "Did you make it to the spice bazaar, when you were there?"

"Dom had t' drag me out," Amanda replied, snickering. "I could've stayed there a week an' still not seen everythin'. I'd like t' go back one day, when I've got more time an' don't have t' worry about borin' anyone." She gave the photo an almost fond look. "I really enjoyed that whole Istabul thing," she remarked a touch wistfully. "Pete an' Dom, an' Angie an' Sarah..."

"It was a good idea," Nathan said, remembering. "For all of you." He smiled. "I was half-sorry that I hadn't gone along."

"So was I - you needed the break yerself. Tho' I think Dom liked havin' Pete mostly to herself..." Amanda couldn't help the snicker. "She's really got it bad for him, doesn't she?"

"Depends on your definition of 'bad'," Nathan said, his lips twitching. "I could make some kind of elaborate metaphor about a compass always swinging back to north, but that's kind of cheesy."

"Can't help herself, huh? She sounded really upset when I spoke t' her last, 'bout his dad. Well, in between tellin' me not t' go do somethin' dumb." Amanda couldn't help the small sigh. "I just wish Pete could find this bastard. At least then it'd be over an' maybe he could move on."

Nathan sighed. "It doesn't help," he murmured very quietly. "Doesn't make moving on any easier. You feel just as empty afterwards."

"Yeah, I s'pose." Amanda leaned slightly against him, unconsciously seeking comfort. "'S a bloody mess."

Nathan put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her onward to the next picture. "Ah," he said, as brightly as he could. "St Petersburg. You really need to get to Russia at some point, you know."

"One day," she agreed, glad for the change of subject but even more glad of the arm around her shoulders. "So much world t' see... 'S funny, a couple of years ago I wasn't expectin' t' set foot outside of England, an' now look at me, planning the grand tour..." With a slightly mischievous grin, she glanced up at him. "Maybe I should look at bein' a stewardess after all? Cheap flights."

Nathan bit his lip. "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to do the stewardess thing," he said with a helpless chuckle. "Remember? The bad brownies?"

"Hey, who'm I t' argue with Fate?" Amanda said innocently. "Let me hair grow out blonde, one of those little uniforms... Can't you just see it?"

Nathan gave a mock-shudder. "Though I must say, your boyfriend would probably appreciate the skirt involved..."

"That definitely hasn't changed," she agreed, with a roll of her eyes, although her pleased grin showed she didn't mind in the slightest. "But nah, there's gotta be better ways of gettin' the jet-settin' lifestyle. Maybe I'll join the leather brigade, do it that way." She was still teasing, enjoying the expression on his face. "'M turning eighteen in April..."

"Sadly, that particular jet doesn't often go to the fun places, or so I'm told," Nathan said dryly, although inwardly, he was trying to repress a different reaction. Eighteen. Well. He'd known that, but it was still... huh. "You know, I think about the sort of things Dom was doing by the time she was eighteen and I worry," he said.

"Dom wasn't safely tucked up in school tho'," she pointed out with a grin. "There's a limit t' how much trouble I can get into, 'specially now I'm off the magic again. Just watch - I'm gunna end up all dull an' borin'."

"You? Never. Although you might want to think of picking up a hobby," Nathan suggested whimsically. "Photography?" She certainly seemed interested enough in it.

"Well, I've got the time all right..." She considered the idea, liking it. "I always liked that part of art class, 'least when Logan was runnin' it. Rasputin's all 'bout the traditional paints an' stuff, an' that's all right, only I'm not so good at the drawin'."

"There are plenty of digital cameras around the school," Nathan pointed out. "You should start carrying one around. See if the mood strikes you."

"I gave back the one I'd borrowed when I quit Art, but yeah, that's not a bad idea..." She grinned suddenly. "Who knows? A few years on an' it could be my work hangin' in a place like this."

The enthusiasm was infectious. And entirely too cute. "Hmm," Nathan said, making a mental note or two. "And then I'd be able to say I knew you when."

With a chuckle, she gave him a half-hug from underneath his arm. "Yeah, sure you would. An' I could give you autographed copies an' all." She looked thoughtful then, and then went on. "Manuel an' me were talkin' last night, 'bout the future," she began.

"Oh?" Nathan said encouragingly. Thinking about the future was good. Meant she wasn't getting caught in the morass of the present.

"We figured a June weddin' would be good, an' then have the first kid next year..." she began, enjoying watching him choke.

He made a vague throttling gesture at her, shaking his head helplessly. "Brat. Don't do that to me," he complained.

She laughed. "Couldn't help meself. But yeah, what we wanna be when we grow up, that sort of thing."

"Oh? Come to any conclusions?"

"Manuel's lookin' at stockbrokin' - he's gettin' into this whole Economics thing. I was thinkin' maybe, just as a vague idea... There's some courses at the community college that I was lookin' at. I can't do 'em until I get the high school diploma, but I was thinkin' maybe next year, if I graduate next spring..." Nathan wouldn't laugh, she reminded herself. Just spit it out already. "They're social work courses. A couple specialisin' in young people."

Nathan made a thoughtful sound. "You'd be good at that, I think," he said. "I've always thought that personal experience was as necessary a grounding for occupations like that as the proper formal education. There are things they don't teach you in books, and all that..."

Amanda nodded. "That's what I was thinkin'. An' I like t' help, an' I think I'm good at listenin'..." She gave him a wry grin. "Sometimes, any way."

"Hey, you're learning." Nathan stopped, blinking at the next picture. "It's a public washroom. Oh, wow. The aesthetic impact is overwhelming."

"'S a statement," Amanda told him, mock-seriously. "The artist is clearly takin' the images at hand an' usin' them t' put his message across." She waited for him to ask what that message was, bubbling with humour.

He gave her a deadpan look. "Which is?" he asked drolly.

"Life is shit," she told him cheerfully.

Nathan pursed his lips. "Uh-huh. That's very profound." What did it say that this was the last photo in the exhibit? He smirked helplessly. "So, uh. Lunch?"

"Lunch sounds good," she agreed, with a small skip as she pulled ahead of him. She'd forgotten how much fun these outings could be.