Nathanael: Nathanael has been, since returning Angel home via Tetra, looking out for Angel. Not hovering, not pushing her, just ever present, somehow, whenever the woman needs him. This morning, he's upstairs in the bedroom, sitting in the chair next to the open window, reading.

Angel: "Mnnn..." She stirs slowly on the bed, making a soft, displeased sound, her body tangled up in her hair, which she didn't bother to braid last night. Shivering...shuddering, she draws a pillow down and curls more tightly around it, pressing her face into its softness.

Nathanael: He looks up to the bed as she stirs, a little smile on his face. "Good morning, dear beauty," he says with a soft smile, setting the book aside.

Angel: She inhales softly, sucking the breath over her teeth and sits up, fingers scrabbling to push her hair out of her closed, quiet face. "Morning."

Nathanael: He rises from the chair with a smooth motion...quick, direct, yet unhurried steps taking him to the bed. He settles down on the mattress and comforter, reaching out to stroke her face. "Did you sleep well?"

Angel: She shakes her head and curls into his chest. "Nightmarees again...These things coming and taking everything away. Even you and Tetra."

Nathanael: He wraps strong arms around her with a sympathetic sigh. "Just a dream, my love. Nothing more then that, I promise you."

Angel: "I'm tired Nathanael. Tired all the time," she murmurs, sighing"I still don't understand how Eli could make it be all my fault..."

Nathanael: "It's not your fault, Angel." He leans down to kiss her, briefly on the lips. "Elijah is very good at making people feel what he wants them to feel. Think of all the times that he talked himself out of trouble when he wanted to sleep with this person or that. Your ravaging...the deaths of those people...choices he made. Not you."

Angel: "My head gets it, Nathanael, but not my heart." She shakes her head and touches his cheek gently. "I love you. Please don't leave me...Or if you do, make it so that I won't remember you. I can't live with another hurt like this."

Nathanael: "I go nowhere, my love." His arms squeeze around her. "I'm not leaving you."

Angel: She nods and sighs softly. "When is your friend coming? The one you'd mentioned," she asks softly.

Nathanael: "That...is a very good question, Angel." He frowns, slightly concerned. "He should have notified me by now."

Angel: "Can you call him, like I did with Tom an Eli," she asks softly, turning to stroke his face, pulling herself out of the depression enough to worry about him.

Nathanael: "Invoke him, you mean. Yes, and I have. He's not answering, though this is not...uncommon for him."

Angel: "Oh. I'm sorry, love," she murmurs,pressing her forehead against Nathanael's chin.

Nathanael: "It's not your fault, Angel. He does this...often." A frown..,there's annoyance there, as well as a faint amount of amusement. "I think he enjoys it just a little."

Angel: "Enjoys making you worry?" She leans back, blinking at him. "You and he are not like Ouestu and Jam' are you?"

Nathanael: "Oh, no!" He laughs a little bit in that rich baritone, stroking her cheek. "We're comrades, dear Beauty. Not lovers."

Angel: "Thank, Goddess." She sighs, sagging. "Granted, its a turn on but...I don't think I could handle that right now." she shakes her head and licks her lips. "Is he prone to unexpected visits?"

Nathanael: "No, he's merely prone to being very, very late without explanation." A sigh. "He does...a lot of our kind's dirty work. The kinds of things that most people should never have to do."

Angel: "Like taking care of demons like Eli," she murmurs, the word Demon bubbling with anger and venom.

Nathanael: "Like taking care of Fallen like Eli, yes," he nods in agreement. "Or, more specifically, trying to handle problems like the Earthbound."

Angel: "Earthbound?" She rakes her fingers through her hair again, trying to get it behind her shoulders.

Nathanael: He sighs, deeply. Trust Eli to not have ever mentioned the Earthbound to his Thralls. "And Earthbound is..." He purses his lips. "How much do you know of us, love? Of the Fallen?"

Angel: "The bare bones." She shrugs and sighs. "There's a bookstore, downtown, that I can probably get more info at. The owner doesn't know what he has. Granted some of it is just fluff...I had a book..." She frowns softly.

Nathanael: "Did Elijah at least tell you of the Houses and the Factions?"

Angel: "Eli told me nothing, Nathanael. I know, in a vague sort of way, about the War."

Nathanael: A disgusted sigh, and a shake of his head. "I should have expected." He sits back and sighs, looking to her. "All right, then...if you like, I can tell you of these things. There's some you should know, anyway."

Angel: She licks her lips. "I don't know that I want to know anymore Nathanael. I love you. I'm with you...I want to have your children. The rest can be dealt with one thing at a time."

Nathanael: He purses his lips, but nods a little. "I know it can, love. Someday, soon, I think, you'll need to know these things. Things you can do to protect yourself, in ways I cannot protect you. Things you can do, should something ever happen to me, to potentially bring me back. And the like. But we need not discuss these things now."

Angel: She nods. "You aren't dying on me," she says it firmly, fiercely. "I will do ANYTHING to make that not happen."

Nathanael: "No, love." He shakes his head. "I'm not. And if something should ever happen to this body, there are things which may be done to return me to you. I will teach you those things some day."

Angel: She nods and touches his face, cupping his cheek with her hand, sighing. "Do you...Is it possible for me to get pregnant?"

Nathanael: "Yes," he says with a nod. "Elijah and Tansy were not a fluke situation. It is entirely possible."

Angel: "Its...But I mean, can we make sure that I can get pregnant."

Nathanael: "We can find a way," he says with a nod. "There are people I can speak with. People who can help us find a way."

Angel: She nods, stroking his face. "I would make a pact with you if you needed it love."

Nathanael: He shakes his head. "I do not wish a Thrall, my love. While that is an option, I would prefer it to remain a last one. We are equals in this. By it's very definition, a Fallen-Thrall relationship is not. I would not subjugate you in such a way."

Angel: She smiles, the first real smile in days. "I know. Its why I love you."

Nathanael: He smiles and leans in to kiss her softly, briefly, then pulls back. "There are advantages to being a Thrall, and in some situations, a temporary pact may have it's advantages. I would never seek to keep you such permanently, though."

Angel: "I know." She nods and sighs, laying back, the sheet bunched around her waist. "You realize we have to start decorating for Christmas in a couple weeks."

Nathanael: He smiles faintly and nods. "I suppose we do, yes."

Angel: "Well, Yule. Its more about the decorations and fam...and Family for me then anything religious."

Nathanael: The look he gives is nothing short of beatifically appreciative. "The spirit of the time is a good thing. A very good thing, and one I revel in. And yes, Family is good." His lips purse, ever so briefly at that, but it's quickly gone, replace with a smile.

Angel: "What," she asks softly.

Angel: d10: per emp: 7,5,1,4,2,1,10,

Nathanael: "Gregory's family," he says with a shrug. "I find myself...wondering after them, from time to time."

Angel: ((Wow. I suck!*LOL*))

Angel: "We could look for them," she murmurs.

Nathanael: He shakes his head. "That would only bring heartache to myself, and more of the same to them with confusion on top. It's best that they remain...gone." He shrugs a little. "I merely feel...regret, for Gregory's actions. He mistreated his family, drove them away."

Angel: "You don't have to see them, but perhaps, just...looking for them, knowing where they are and that they're alive would help. Maybe sending them small, annonymous things for Christmas."

Nathanael: "Perhaps," he says with a little nod. "We shall see."

Angel: "No pressure, love. Just...It would ease your heart I think."

Nathanael: He nods slightly. "I wish to do the things that Gregory did not. He was very much the oppposite of what I am...the fact that we ended up together can only be called cosmic irony." A faint smile. "If I believed He had a sense of irony, at any rate. Where I was Love, he was cold Logic. It just...sometimes strikes me in odd ways, is all."

Angel: "Perhaps you needed to be with Gregory in order to balance yourself, love. I'm learning that love is good...but it can hurt you, badly."

Nathanael: He nods a little, his face darkening slightly. "Love is many things, Angel. Like all things, it suffered when the Creator shattered the world. I wish you could have seen what it used to be."

Angel: "I think I have a clue, Nathanael. You loved me before you ever took me from that house, didn't you?"

Nathanael: He nods a little bit. "I did. But even this...what I offer you in love now. It's a beautiful thing, what I live for...and it makes me a better person. If only you could have seen what a thing it used to be...I think you would understand us more."

Angel: She nods and smiles softly, tracing fingers over his chest. "How long were you watching me? Us?"

Nathanael: He chuckles a little bit. "I'm sure I will sound somewhat like a stalker after this. I had been watching Elijah since early July. I was concerned he was falling to the dark side of his Torment."

Angel: She chuckles softly. "You saw nothing complimentary on my side...Just a shy, frightened woman. Fat...Ungainly.

Nathanael: "I saw a woman who wanted to be loved," he amends. "And one who very much deserved it."

Angel: "But what made you want to take me?" Yes, she's curious. These things have been eating at her for a long time now, niggling little thoughts of curiosity.

Nathanael: "I..." His face flushes a little, and he smiles. "I knew that the Earthbound had been targeting Thralls. Baby Death had been warning people...but I knew I had to act. I knew that Tansy would be safe, for Elijah would never hurt his children. But you..." He shrugs. "I couldn't let it happen to you."