Room 322, Tuesday Afternoon

[not_every_mage]

Anders had hoped for a clear day so he and Nathan could have one last picnic before the end of the year, but it was too cold and wet to be outside. (For him, anyhow. Probably not for Nathan.) He tried to make up for it by opening the windows as far as he could without letting rain in and unplugging everything electric on his side of the room.

The nice thing was the blasted carols had stopped, so his room was quiet.

He laid out an array of Mexican food -- probably more than they could eat, but he'd gotten overwhelmed by the menu and decided one of everything was the wisest course. And then he waited and tried to keep Lachlan out of the guacamole.

[OOC: For the boy, please.]

Comments

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"He isn't," Nathan said and looked momentarily sad but not because Gabriel wasn't here. It was because he had no idea where Gabriel was and if he was even alive. He shook it away. "I don't know where he is."

[not_every_mage]

"Sorry," Anders apologized, chip forgotten. "I didn't know I was poking at something. What happened?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure," Nathan said but smiled at the apology. "It's all right, you didn't know because I didn't really tell you too much. He just helped me a lot and disappeared. I'd been looking for him when I ended up here."

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe sometime he'll turn up here," Anders suggested. "Or ... you'll find him somehow ,anyhow."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." Though Nathan doubted it. "And if he doesn't, I'll find him. Eventually. He has to be somewhere."

[not_every_mage]

"Most people are," Anders said with a hopeless little shrug. "He must have left some clues somewhere, if you could flush them out."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," he said, chewing on his lip. "I don't think he did, actually. Or maybe he did and I just missed them."

[not_every_mage]

Anders let that hang in the air for a moment as he prodded his fork at the rice.

"I wish I had something useful to say," he muttered finally. "If I can ever help, let me know."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan smiled a bit. "Once I figure out what I need to do, I'll let you know. For now, it's just going to have to wait."

[not_every_mage]

"Guess that's all we can do for now," Anders nodded, and sighed a bit. He didn't mind waiting normally, but there were so many unanswered questions in their lives it got daunting.

"So -- not to completely change the subject at all -- how do you like the food?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"It's good!" Nathan said, happy for the subject change. "Spicy. I'm beginning to like spices like this."

[not_every_mage]

"I do too," Anders nodded. "I like the cheese, too, but that's not new the way the spice is."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we had cheese where I'm from too," Nathan said, taking another bite. "Maybe it wasn't quite like this, not melted but we did have it. And it was still good."

[not_every_mage]

"Obviously," Anders nodded. "It's cheese. It makes everything better."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan went to say something else before he stopped himself and shook his head, snickering.

"We're talking about cheese," he said through his snickers.

[not_every_mage]

"And that's funny?" Anders asked, though he snickered too. "Wait. Give me a moment and I'll come up with something deeper."

Or possibly put his mouth to a more important use, like eating all the queso.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Not specifically, no," Nathan said, deciding to elaborate a bit. "I just -- we talk about some strange things in between conversations about home and us. Funny, strange things. I like it."

[not_every_mage]

"Me too," Anders said, turning to look at Nathan more fully. "It's comfort, isn't it? I feel like I can say whatever stupid thing pops into my head. Cheese or octopuses or whatever."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"It's good," Nathan said, almost blushing. "I didn't talk much to anyone back home. Kept to myself save for one or two people and even then, we didn't really talk about silly things. It's relaxing."

[not_every_mage]

"It helps," Anders nodded. "Having people to talk to about stupid crap -- it makes everything else easier. And besides, you usually have good things to say."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I think you're biased." Nathan smiled. "But I don't mind. I like listening to you as well. I like your voice."

[not_every_mage]

"It's the other way round, isn't it?" Anders asked rhetorically. "I wouldn't be biased toward you if I hadn't liked spending time with you to start with. It's not just about how pretty you are."

He also liked trying to make Nathan blush sometimes.

"And thank you. I've ...actually never thought about my voice,but you have a good one too."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Pretty?" It both made him blush and made him sound surprised. "Me?"

[not_every_mage]

That surprise broke Anders' heart a tiny bit. "Gorgeous. Handsome. I wouldn't say pretty if I wasn't trying to be cute." He peered at Nathan. "Why, what do you see in the mirror?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"...you're going to frown when I tell you." He had some self esteem issues, if you hadn't noticed. So, he took a few bites of the food instead of actually telling Anders what he saw.