An Unannounced (and Unwanted) Visitor

"What we're doing right now?" Aleyn asked with a bit of a smile as he unbuttoned Vedran's shirt. "I think that's more the province of our newly-named visitor there." Turning more serious again, he continued, "You can ask for more details next time you write - it's not as if we can do anything about it tonight anyway."

Vedran eyed the book, considering adding a quick footnote, but Aleyn fixed him with a firm look, and pushed him back on to the bed. He lay there for a moment before grumbling and kicking off his shoes. "I feel like there should be? Probably just wishful thinking, but maybe if I went back through everything we know, wrote it out more clearly, something would jump out..."

"We can talk it over for a bit if you like," Aleyn told him, climbing into bed alongside him, "but we're both already exhausted - staying up all night fretting isn't going to help us solve anything. Any connections we'd make in this state of mind would just as likely be figments of our imagination, paranoia."

"I'm probably already doomed to stay up fretting - I don't want to keep you up though, if you think you can sleep..."

"I can sleep anywhere, anytime," Aleyn said, stretching out and yawning. "And I bet I could get you to sleep too, with a bit of help, but you're probably not in the mood for that," he teased affectionately. "...Do you think it's safe for them to hang onto the stone they already found - in case things go horribly wrong and they get captured, we don't want it to fall into the cult's hands." He frowned at the thought, but it needed to be said.

Vedran had smiled a little at Aleyn's teasing, but sat back up at that. "Okay, I give up." He swung his feet back on the floor and started to make is way back to the book.

Aleyn sighed and moved his legs to let Vedran get by. "Okay - send them another message if you have to. But then come back to bed - no sitting up all night, okay? Even if you can't get to sleep, you can at least lie down and rest."

He rolled onto his side to watch Vedran as he walked over to his desk, where the book was waiting. "It'll be good to have Ardith for back-up on nights like this," he muttered.

"Hmm?" He looked over as he re-dipped his quill before jotting down his message. 'oh - is there anything else we should say?"

"'Good night, talk to you in the morning?'" Aleyn suggested with a smile.

Vedran made a face. "Well, as far as I can tell, it is probably the middle of the day for them..."

"Then they're probably out running around, trying not to get killed," Aleyn said with a sigh. "Maybe when Roscoe makes version two of these books, he can make it so it rings a bell or something when there's a new message, so you don't have to sit there hovering over it."

"Oh, I can just imagine how much you'd love that..." He glanced at the book again, but as no new words had appeared, he set down the quill and closed it back in the drawer., then went to rejoin Aleyn in bed. "I'll try not to keep you up, but I really don't think I can sleep."

Aleyn snuggled up to him, kissing his shoulder. "The offer of assistance in that department still stands. At the very least, I could rub your back, or get you a drink."

"Thanks, but no - just get some rest. It will be better if one of us does." He managed to settle down with Aleyn curled up to him for a few minutes at least, until his unquiet thoughts spilled out again. "...Do you think I should talk to Derenn?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Aleyn said with a stifled yawn. "He did say Damakos used to talk to him about his research, so maybe he knows more about his sources."

"Right, yeah maybe..." He wasn't as sure that it couldn't hurt, but maybe Aleyn wasn't really awake enough to bother about those concerns anyway. "Sorry. I'll let you go to sleep." And once Aleyn was out, maybe he could get up without disturbing him, to check the book and try to make some more sense of things.