Disclaimer: I don't own Sand, NWN2, or any events/dialogs/etc and so on besides my lovely little Nai Farlong and her familiar, Fara.

A Lesson in Self-control

"Let me in!"

Sand smirked wickedly at the cloaked figure, using his body to block the doorway and keep her from entering his shop. Oh she is cute when she's desperate. "And what could a humble wizard like myself possibly do for the Heroine of the City Watch? Shouldn't you be busy saving the world, or rescuing kittens from trees or something?"

From the shadows of her cowl, the young woman's glowing, otherworldly eyes narrowed. "Do not make me tell Brelaina about those illegal reagents you've been selling me. I am that desperate, Sand. Let me in now, before they see me!"

Sand clicked his tongue and pouted, "My, aren't you a bully." With a melodramatic sigh, he stood aside so that Nai could rush in, and she sent one last nervous glance out the door as it shut before she pushed the cowl back from her head. "I owe you," she breathed, her whole body seeming to deflate in relief.

"Mmm, yes well," Sand murmured as he strode back toward the item he'd been working on at the bench before his door was practically thrown off its hinges by her pounding, "I am keeping a running tab you know."

"Just name your price," she muttered as she threw herself into an overstuffed chair and sprawled her petite body out in an entirely unladylike manner.

Sand studied her surreptitiously from the corner of his eye. You missed her. As often as she'd found her way into his shop over the last few months, the moon elf still found her features to be fascinating and he had a difficult time keeping his focus off of her after her prolonged absence. Not that he was the kind to be drawn in by appearances, but she was simply so…interesting. Yes, yes, keep telling yourself that.

"I did not realize you'd returned from your trip already," Sand commented. Already? It felt like months.

"We arrived late last night," she mumbled tiredly. "They haven't given me a moment's rest since. And yes, Old Owl Well was every bit as pleasant as you predicted it would be."

Sand smiled to himself and admitted, "I am pleased to see you are safe. Still…I am suspicious that your insistence to be let into my shop was largely selfish."

A long pause, and then, "We have a paladin now."

"Ah, so that is the source of the scent of angst and righteousness that clings to you. It creates a rather spicy mix."

"And a gnome."

"I certainly hope you're not saying the paladin is a gnome…."

"Oh, no, Sand, they are certainly two different people," she lamented. "The paladin is a human with a death wish for no obvious reason and the gnome is…well, quite mad, of that I'm certain. And he sings. If you can call it that." Lifting her head from where it had fallen limp against the back of the chair, Nai asked him flatly, "Why me?"

Sand chuckled and shook his head at her. "Surely you see the irony of lamenting your fate when help comes your way, yet not when those githyanki tracked you for miles and drove you from your home."

Shaking her head in disgust, she echoed, "'Help?' Please, Sand. I will forgive you using that word only because I know you've yet to meet the newest additions. I could hire better help from the Moonstone Mask."

"Ah, but then you would have to pay them."

"Which is worth more then, my sanity or my gold? That is a question for the ages." She let her head drop back against the chair once more with a soft thud. "And I thought life had gotten bad when Qara showed up."

Sand's entire posture changed at the mention of the fiery sorceress, rather like a cat whose hackles rise at the appearance of a rival for its territory. "Yes, Qara," he sneered. "Don't get me wrong, Nai, while I…admire…your efforts to save the girl from herself, I cannot help but think you're a complete fool for allowing her under the same roof."

Nai sat up straighter and raised one pale blue eyebrow at the bristling moon elf. "My, you really do have a problem with her don't you? I've never seen you get so irritated simply hearing someone's name."

Oh that's just wonderful, Sand, very transparent. Sand cleared his throat and smoothed his robe absently. "Just trying to look out for you, dear girl. You know, Duncan told me what happened outside the Flagon, how you met the sorceress."

Frowning at the memory, Nai nodded, "Yes, she started a fight with some girls from the Academy. They could have burned down the tavern, or the whole block for that matter."

"Yes, well, it's not really that surprising. Qara tends to ridicule the art…not necessarily magic itself, but rather those who must practice it to achieve the level she has been gifted." Sand ground his jaw to keep his next words in check, but Nai followed his thoughts and seized the moment of hesitation.

"You think it is unjust."

"It is unjust," Sand snapped, then clasped his hands before him and forced composure into his next words. Get a grip, Sand. "Sometimes…such magics do not come easily for others, and one must sharpen the mind to wield magic as a weapon."

"Like you and I," the air genasi said softly.

"Indeed." Normally Sand would not have dared speak so openly about these kinds of things with anyone, but in Nai he could see a sympathetic ear, if nothing else. She understands. "But Qara…she is dull to it. She is the example of what happens when power corrupts…when things are too easy, the soul suffers." Sand's condescension took on an air of pity, perhaps even sadness as he said, "If she does not train herself, learn discipline, then her power will consume her."

Nai sighed and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "I've tried to reach her, Sand. I just don't think there's a way."

"Then that is her choice, dear girl. Just…be careful not to let yourself be dragged down with her," he said quietly. "I worry for you as well."

The air genasi looked up, her luminescent eyes taking on that blank look she used when she didn't want to reveal her emotions. "Me?"

Sand had been around enough women in his centuries of life to recognize that one wrong word and she would be irreparably offended by what she believed was a comparison between herself and Qara. Not that anyone could blame her for being offended by such. Ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was whispering reason, Sand stepped in front of her seat and knelt before the young woman, taking one of her small, cool hands between his own.

"My dear girl, you have changed since you first came into my shop not long ago. You have the power to affect the world around you and do so, dramatically. I fear your little adventure has just begun, and yet already you have tremendous power…and that makes you dangerous." And so very intriguing.

"Power?" she whispered, searching his face. "Help me out here, Sand, because all I see when I look around is a half-breed swamp girl and her merry band of circus freaks."

"Circus freaks who would, who do, follow you willingly into death if necessary. You left for Old Owl Well a few weeks ago to seek out an Emissary, and yet return with more who support your cause." Sand shook his head scornfully at her doubtful expression. "You are a leader, Nai, and you are not just responsible for yourself, but for the lives of those who follow you."

Nai sighed – or the air genasi equivalent thereof - a gesture that was like a faint breeze sweeping away from her body. "You know, I seek you out to forget my burdens, not have you remind me of them," she chided softly.

Oh, gods, she looks so young. Sand offered her a sad smile and captured one of the loose strands of hair that floated calmly around her face, pushing it aside so he could brush his fingertips across the slope of her cheek. Have you lost your mind, Sand? "And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your presence. But I will never be anything less than honest with you."

At his touch, Nai's eyebrows had shot up in surprise, and she tilted her head to one side and studied him through narrowed eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with Sand?" she teased, although Sand had the impression she was utterly serious.

Indeed. Sand offered her a false smiled and stood to return to his workbench, careful to keep his back toward her to hide his discomfort. All traces of concern vanished from his voice, replaced by his usual sardonic bite. "Yes, well, beings of your caliber are few and far between, I'm afraid, and I would simply hate to see something happen to you."

Eyes still narrowed, Nai studied his back for a long moment, a small smile eventually tugging the corner of her mouth as she stood and eased off her cloak. "Might as well get some work done," she murmured as she hoisted her pack up onto the counter.

An indignant squeak from the pack caused Sand to turn and watch the air genasi pull a white lump of fur from inside the heavy bag. "Your poor familiar," he scolded as the snow-colored weasel uncurled herself and stretched. "It's a wonder you haven't crushed the thing by now."

"It's not my fault she likes to sleep in there," Nai responded, fishing in the pack until she found a piece of some flat, dried food-substance and offered it to the hungry weasel. Oh wonderful, crumbs everywhere. The familiar squeaked noisily in between bites, and the air genasi's voice took on an air of amusement. "Fara wants to know where your 'feline better-half' is. Her words, not mine."

"Hmm, yes well, I'm sure the lazy beast is busy earning his keep at the foot of my bed, upstairs." He watched with a bemused headshake as the creature leaped off the counter, scampered down the side of Nai's armor, and bounded for the stairs. "They're going to destroy my room, aren't they?"

"Most certainly. She missed Jaral these last few weeks." The air genasi pulled her spellbook from her pack, sending a sly glance at Sand from the corner of her eye as she added, "She has quite the crush on him."

Sand snorted. You're seeing things. She's not really looking at you like that, calm down. "There's no accounting for taste, I suppose. Let us just be thankful they are, ah…physiologically incompatible, hmm? What a nuisance it would be to have to exterminate a plague of mongrel furballs."

Nai chuckled under her breath and carried her spellbook to his desk, where she made herself comfortable. After several minutes of diligently scribing new spells into the book, she noticed Sand watching her from the corner of his eye once more.

Pretending not to notice, Nai frowned at her spellbook, a line of confusion appearing between her brows. "Sand," she called, "could you help me with this? There's something not quite right here…."

What game is she playing at? Sand raised an eyebrow curiously, knowing her to be a meticulous scribe and very unlikely to make mistakes, but he obediently moved to stand beside her chair and lean over the spellbook. "Ah, here is the problem," he pointed out almost immediately. "These symbols are reversed – a simple mistake."

Her eyes not on the spellbook but rather on the elf's face only inches from her own, Nai murmured, "Hmm, yes…how silly of me."

But Sand was not paying her any attention to her attempts at flirtation, his focus still fixated on the spellbook. He frowned as he scanned the pages, turning them carefully and shaking his head slightly. "Are these the only spells you memorize?"

"Hmm?" The genasi snapped her attention back to the book, feeling needled by the disapproval in his tone. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"My dear, there is not a single protective spell in here," he scolded. "Everything in here, even your cantrips, are all offensive spells!"

"Well…it is my specialty, Sand," she pointed out as she stood and leaned her backside against the desk so she could meet his eyes better.

"Even one trained in evocation must be alive to cast spells, Nai." I sense a Qara-moment forthcoming in three, two….

"Most times my enemies are vapor before they get anywhere near me, Sand." Nai was beginning to get upset in spite of herself. "And if they are not, I have other ways of defending myself." She reached down and patted the hilt of one of the short swords dangling from her hips. "I'm not a helpless child, Sand."

"Not helpless, but certainly reckless," he retorted. "Don't you have sense enough to protect yourself, girl?"

A thousand scathing replies leaped to the front of the genasi's mind, her indignant anger taking on the form of tiny tendrils of electric energy worming through the air around her, but she was halted in her reply by a thunderous crash.

Sand's arms flew around her protectively at the noise, and they both gaped as a cascade of books tumbled down the stairs, forming a veritable mountain at the bottom. A now-empty bookshelf followed a second later, bumping noisily down the stairs until it slid neatly over the pile of strewn books. Silence descended on the shop. Two pairs of guilty eyes stared at them from the upper floor for a moment, and then vanished without a sound.

Sand ground his teeth and muttered a string of elven curses under his breath, but his expression quickly changed as he realized he was holding the young woman tightly against his chest, her hands clutching the front of his robes. And showing no signs of letting go. Looking down at her, he realized just how tiny she was, and the analytical part of his mind wondered what race she was descended from…possibly halfling?

The wind-like presence that surrounded her at all times turned warm and still, almost humid as she gazed intently up into his face, and she made no effort to detach herself from him. "What's really going on, Sand?" Her voice was like a whispered breeze in his ears, her pale, bottomless eyes wide and sincere. "Tell me."

"I…" Oh come now, you are not at a loss for words, are you? Say something! "I-I suppose…I fear for your safety," he admitted eventually. "I find your presence…refreshing, and I am…unwilling to be without it if I can help it." She did not react, but just gazed at him expectantly and he felt inclined to elaborate. "I am not one of your loyal followers and I cannot do anything to keep you safe while you run about doing the bidding of the gods-only-know who. And I suppose…" he glanced up the stairs with a ghost of a smile on his lips, "I suppose I have more in common with my rogue familiar than I'd like to admit."

"You missed me," Nai said matter-of-factly, her hands tightening on his robes.

"Yes," the moon elf confirmed, once more smoothing back the unruly hairs that drifted around her face. "More than that." You're playing it dangerously close now, Sand old boy.

"And why is that so hard to admit?"

Lifting an eyebrow in amusement, Sand pointed out, "I don't hear you returning the sentiment."

Nai opened her mouth to respond, but snapped it back closed with a confused frown, her fingers nervously fiddling with the silken collar of Sand's robe. "I suppose," she began slowly, "I'm worried that I may offend you."

Torn between surprise and amusement – and becoming increasingly aware of her body pressed against his – Sand asked dumbly, "Offend?"

"I have very few people I can trust, Sand," she said softly as she looked everywhere but at his face. "I could never forgive myself if I stupidly caused tension between us."

"Nai, I think there already is tension between us," Sand replied with a fond chuckle, "and yet I remain strangely unoffended by it."

The air genasi finally met his intent gaze, confusion still written on her delicate face. Only thinking of his desire to reassure her, to calm the quiet fear that loomed behind her glowing eyes, Sand gently tilted her chin up and brushed his lips across hers.

Nai's was motionless under his touch for a moment, but then everything changed. Thin, crackling streaks of lightning twisted across her arms and down the moon elf's chest. Sand barely stifled a gasp as finger-like wisps of air slipped through the fibers if his robes, brushing his bare skin, sliding over the flat plane of his stomach. Now that is interesting.

"Nai," Sand's voice almost trembled, and he was privately awed that the faintest kiss of the air genasi managed to erode the will of a centuries old elf who typically thought of the pleasures of the flesh as far more work than they were worth. Trying to give himself a moment to think with his mind instead of his breeches, Sand pushed her back, forcing her to sit on his cluttered desk. "I think this is a very bad idea."

"Then stop thinking," she murmured with a faint smile, her nimble fingers already working open the front of his robes as she wrapped her thighs around his hips and pulled him snugly against her. "You do far too much thinking as it is."

Sounds like a plan. And gods is she aggressive. "But your Uncle," the tendrils of wind had expanded, teasing the bare skin of his thighs through his breeches and eliciting a strangled sound of pleasure from the moon elf, "he will kill me."

"I can handle Duncan," she assured him, her smile widening as Sand's fingers found their way to the buckles of her armor in spite of his repeated protests.

What are you doing Sand? Sand inclined his head toward the door and pointed out, "It's not locked, you know." Let's call it an experiment to test the compatibility of elves and genasi. Yes, let's.

Nai sat forward and brushed her cheek against his, and Sand froze as he just barely heard her murmuring something under her breath, something distinctly arcane. His fingers continued to work open the straps of her armor and the chestpiece came loose in his hands just as he heard the faint pop of his wards activating.

"You're doing an excellent job of distracting me at the moment," he murmured as she pulled back so that he could ease the armor up over her head, leaving her in only her thin padding and underclothes. "But rest assured you will tell me how you knew how to activate my wards."

Smiling coyly, Nai pushed open his robe and ran her hands down his smooth chest, the faint breeze around her gaining strength as her excitement mounted. Unable to restrain himself, Sand captured her face between his hands, pausing for a moment to caress her cheek with his thumb, before pulling her face to his.

A tingling jolt of energy rippled from her lips in response to the hungry kiss, and Sand practically growled in pleasure as the thrumming sensation traveled the length of his body. The wind was rising to a maelstrom and Sand stood in the center of her storm, eagerly exploring her mouth as he deftly freed her of her remaining armor and clothes. He was vaguely aware of whispering something in feverish elvish against the genasi's lips before she sought his mouth once more and he lost all reasonable thought.