Author:  The Wanlorn

Title:  A World in a Grain of Sand 18/?

Summary:  This is a sequel to "Every New Beginning…"

Rating:  PG13 for language

Spoilers:  I honestly don't know, so beware.

Distribution:  Ask, and ye shall receive.  Take without permission, then screw the Law of Three, I will cures you with the nefarious curse of…da da dum…WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!  BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Disclaimer:  Same as all of the last times, so far.  The hand thing is courtesy 'Mystery Science Theater 3000'.  Now, I'm only going on an audio of it, because I never saw that particular episode, only heard that piece second-hand from a friend.  Micah's mine.

Thank Yous:  Thanks to Carla, my beta.  Thanks to Cat.er for providing me with the hand thing.  Thanks to all my reviewers who feed my addiction.

Chapter Eighteen

            That evening, Abel woke quietly, a moment of panic gripping him when the other bodies in the bed registered on his brain, thinking he was back, before.  Nire's voice quickly brought him back to where he really was.

            "If you don't stop moving around, I'm going to cut your balls off," she threatened sleepily.

            Abel froze, terrified.  He was now nestled between Nire's arm and her side, one leg over hers.  She gently squeezed his shoulders.

            "I wasn't talking to you, kitty kat.  I was talking to the dipshit on the other side of me."  She focused her attention on Jander.  "Now, either stop moving and go back to sleep, or go back downstairs."

            Jander's silver eyes peeked at Abel over Nire's body.  A sweet smile spread across his face as he rolled his eyes.  "Sorry M'ija," he said in his soft voice, sitting up unsteadily and speaking to Abel.  "No matter what she says, or how much she threatens, she won't cut off any vital parts."

            "You're keeping me awake," Nire muttered.

            Abel's eyes begged Jander to stop talking, but the vampire merely laughed softly.  "Nor will she cause you any sort of pain.  Now, shut up and go back to sleep, little one."  He unsteadily walked out of the door.

            Nire growled and gently took her arm away from where it was around Abel, sitting up at the same time.  "It's doesn't matter now," she called.  "I'm wide awake."

            Abel watched her with fearful eyes, jumping when she flopped back down a few moments later.  "Screw it, no I'm not.  I'm going back to sleep."  She glanced at the frightened young man next to her.  "He's right, kitty kat, I'm all bark and no bite."

            She rolled over, putting her back to him.  Ever so slowly, Abel began inching closer to her.  Before he could get close, she got up.

            "He's getting antsy down there, and I don't want him trying to come up the stairs again."  She reached down, ignoring the way he flinched from her hand, and tousled Abel's short black hair.  "If you're not coming down right now, see you later."

            Abel watched her as she walked out of the sparse room.  This was beyond being too good to be true.  He didn't want to look this gift horse in the mouth, but…

~~~~{@

            Nick gently inhaled, the spicy scent of Natalie's hair filling his nostrils.  Her head lay on his chest, one of her arms across his body.  A small, happy smile graced her beautiful features.  It was half an hour until the alarm went off.

            He gently eased out from under her.  In an hour and a half, he had to take her to therapy.  Although he knew that she liked Irina, she hated the fact that she needed to go.  Nick smiled slightly.  He'd go downstairs and make pancakes.  When she got out of the shower, they would be done and ready for her to eat.  Maybe that would put her in a better mood.

            After covering her up more snugly, he eased the door shut behind him as he left the room.  Out on the catwalk, at the top of the stairs, he paused.  There were two distinct heartbeats in Abel's room, and Jander was painstakingly making his way down the stairs.  Everything sounded relatively okay in Abel's room, so he headed down the stairs.  When the vampire glanced up at him, stumbling upon the waver in concentration, Nick grabbed his elbow, helping him regain his balance.

            "Thanks," Jander said gratefully.  "This is…"    

            "The absolute worst thing you've ever experienced?" Nick provided, helping the golden-skinned vampire down the rest of the stairs.

            Jander laughed softly.  "Exactly.  I never thought I could be in this much physical pain."

            The use of the word 'physical' was not lost on Nick.  He murmured a sound of agreement, the noise of one who has gone through the same experience.

            "Then why did you go upstairs?" Nick asked blatantly.

            Jander sighed and slumped back on the couch, his fingers nervously drumming on the leather.  "I just follow Nire wherever she goes.  She just woke me up and told me she was going upstairs, if I was going to follow."  He shrugged tiredly.  "Abel probably had a nightmare or something."

            Nick raised an eyebrow slightly. Why would the teenager care anything for the young man who was terrified of her?  And if Abel were going to go to anyone, it would be Natalie.

            Jander glanced up at the stairs, nervously licking his lips, before answering the look.  "If he needed someone up there, she would go.  That's what she does.   If someone doesn't have anyone else, or has no one to protect them and can't protect themselves, she does."  He rolled his eyes and sighed.  "She doesn't even know him, and she'd lay down her life if it meant he would get away; she'd seek revenge on those who made him who he is, if it would give him peace."  He laughed softly.  "And if he needs to be protected from himself, she'll figure out something.  The lass is a genius in every way."

            "Pretty speech," Nire said from the top of the stairs.  She limped her way down to them.

            Visibly relaxing, a sweet smile spread across Jander's face.  "Why, thank you, M'ija."

            Within five seconds of that comment, Abel had appeared at the top of the stairs, cautiously coming down.  Nire grinned widely as she looked up at him.

            "Yo yo yo, whassup dawg," she said, her grin teasing and mischievous.

            Jander and Nick rolled their eyes simultaneously.  The entire world was rolling in its grave as she said that.  Abel smiled slightly, barely noticeable.  Seeing that, Nick decided that whatever it was, it did not matter.  The young man was okay, better than he had been for the past couple of days.  Going to the kitchen, Nick began pulling out things to make pancakes from scratch.

            "Do you guys want pancakes?" he asked the two mortals.

            Abel watched Nire, as she said, "No thanks."

            "Nire," Jander said warningly, mustering a glare.

            Nire sighed as though she were a martyr.  "Fine, sure, I'll have some, why not?  Let's think about this for a moment - half an hour to eat each meal, three meals a day, makes an hour and a half of eating per day.  That times three sixty-five days a year is… five hundred 'n' seventeen hours 'n' fifteen minutes a year.  That's, like, um… twenty-two days a year.  Twenty-two *days* wasted eating.  What a waste of *my* precious minutes."

            Nick paused in his rummaging.  "Is that a yes?"

            Nire sighed.  "Yeah, sure.  Yum, yum, panqueques."

            "Abel?" Nick asked.

            "Yes please," was the quiet answer.

            "I have to ask," Nire said as Nick began to mix things in a bowl.  "You *do* know how to cook, right?"

            Nick laughed.  "Yes, I do.  Why would I offer if I couldn't?"

            Nire shrugged, grinning.  "I'unno."  She jerked a thumb at Jander.  "Once he started hanging with mortals, we all had to teach him how to cook so he didn't poison us to death when it was his turn to make us all food."

            Jander sighed.  "There are so many things wrong with that sentence."

            "Do I *look* like I'm in school?" Nire muttered.

            Nire smiled slightly, mixing the batter.  They were an entertaining duo, if nothing else.  It reminded him of, scarily enough, he and LaCroix, when he was but a fledgling, and they were vacationing in Paris.  Back then, LaCroix had been much more easygoing, actually given to some humor.  But then he had changed, gotten so much more surely and manipulative.

            *Or was it I that changed? * Nick mused as the pancake batter sizzled into round circles on the skillet.  Brief bits of remembered conversation flickered through his head as he leaned by the stove ("Why can't you just leave me alone?"  "Because this foolish quest is killing you."  "Maybe that's what I *want*!").  Now that he was actually thinking about it, at least in the beginning, LaCroix has always had a reason for interfering.  And had not, when Nick had been content with being a vampire, had not LaCroix been a good father figure?

            There was a nagging feeling at the base of Nick's brain that he should go visit the ancient Roman.  It was almost the dawn of a new century - almost in a vampire's way of thought - and maybe that would bring a new ay of life for him.  He could make amends with LaCroix, and Janette now that she was back in town.  It could go back to how it was those first couple years.

            Nick shook himself out of his nostalgic thoughts.  Nothing could ever be how it was before, in the beginning.  They had grown apart too much.  He had moved too far from the two vampires closest to him.  Too much had been said, had been done on all three parts to go back.

            He sighed and flipped over the pancakes.  The sounds of the shower started upstairs, telling him that Natalie was awake.  She would be downstairs in another half an hour.  The two younger mortals would hopefully be done eating by then.  He hoped there were strawberries and powdered sugar somewhere in the kitchen.

            When the pancakes were done, Nick split them onto two plates, putting the plates, silverware, butter, and maple syrup on the table.  "They're done, guys."

            Nire ambled over to the table, her hands in her pockets, snagging out the chair with her foot.  As soon as she sat, Abel stopped standing uncertainly at the corner of the table and sat in the other chair.  He put a dab of maple syrup on his, where as Nire smothered hers with butter and syrup.

            "I'm trying to clog my arteries and get in the _Guinness Book of World Records_ for being the youngest person to need triple bypass surgery 'cause of it," she said cheerfully at Nick's look.

            Looking at the teen's body, he believed her.  And she was close to her goal, he would guess.  As the mortals ate, he began to go through the cabinets and the fridge, looking for strawberries and powdered sugar. The sugar was easy to find.  Finally, he decided to go upstairs and ask Natalie about the strawberries.

            Upstairs, he knocked on the bathroom door before opening it.  "Hey Nat?"

            "What?" she asked tiredly.

            "Do we have any strawberries?"

            "There's probably frozen ones in the freezer.  Why?"

            "Just wondering," Nick replied.  "See you in a bit."

            He gently shut the door again, the air of the bedroom feeling cool against his face in contrast to the humid air of the bathroom.  At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped short at the scene in the kitchen.

            Jander had moved over to the table and was sitting next to Nire, both of their back to him.

            "Please?" the nosferatu begged the teenager.  "Just a little nibble?"

            "No," she said stubbornly.  "It's mine."

            "An itty bitty teeny weenie bit.  That's all I want.  One bite."

            Nire sighed.  "You were just half dead.  You can't tell me that this would be good for your system."

            "Sure it would."

            Nire growled, making Abel jump.  From her actions, Nick could tell that she was using her fork to cut off a piece of pancake and covering it in syrup.  She lifted it, dripping with syrup and butter.  Jander expectantly opened his mouth, and she popped it in.  He chewed and swallowed, like it was the finest vintage blood in the world.

            "Oh my gods, that was so good," he said, licking his lips to get the last of the syrup.

            "Jesus Christ," Nire muttered.  "You have a bigger sweet tooth than I do."

            "How…" Nick took a few steps forward, his mind already jumping to conclusions.  If he could eat mortal food and enjoy it, could he go out in the sun, too?  Or was he not a true vampire, some sort of dhampir or Hunter?

            "Frell," Nire swore, looking guilty.  Abel looked as though he could smell a storm brewing and wanted to run, but was too afraid to.  Jander looked just as guilty as Nire.

            "I thought you were a vampire," Nick said accusatorily.

            "I am," Jander said calmly, glancing at Nire.  "But, well…"

            "Mmkay," Nire interrupted.  "I suggest you flip los panqueques, and I'll try to explain."

            Absolutely bubbling with curiosity, Nick followed her directions.  Struck by a sudden reminder, he took the frozen strawberries out of the freezer and started thawing them as Nire spoke.

            "This is going to require you to… Ah, hell, U don't know what I'm talking about.  Just accept what I'm saying, 'kay?  I'm not in the mood for stupid questions.

            "You see, magic, the metaphysical, is very real, despite what Natalie thinks.  Mages - magic workers - do exist.  Check that," she interrupted herself.  "I don't know if they do on this particular world, but where I hail from, they do."

            She forked another bite pf pancake into her mouth and swallowed before continuing.  "So, I'm a mage, yada yada yada, and I created a potion for Jander that… lessened some of the vampiric downsides."

            "Like what?" Nick interrupted, devoting his entire attention to her.

            "Like…" She hesitated for a moment.  "Like, he can eat mortal food, and it tastes 'normal'.  But it won't sustain him for long - he still has to drink blood.  And it negates the effects of holy objects on his undead flesh."

            "Can you-" Nick immediately started.

            Jander interrupted with a sharp, "No!"

            Nick's shocked eyes met the other vampire's apologetic gaze, only one phrase was running through his mind - 'Why not?'  Why would one vampire want to withhold the blessing from another?  Why, when they were so similar?  Could he not understand?  Did he not remember how it felt?

            Nire nuzzled Jander's protective hand that gripped her shoulder before answering.  "Stay your judgments my friend," she said to Nick.  "He has plenty enough a reason to protest so vehemently.  When I did it for him, it almost killed me."  She laughed bitterly.  "In fact, that was pretty much the whole point.  One good thing would have come of my time on the many worlds I had been on, and I wouldn't have to deal with the farce people call life any longer."

            She paused for a moment, as though collecting herself, then grinned.  "But I promise you, if I ever start seriously thinking about suicide again, I'll keep you in mind, and that'll be the way I go out."

            Nick opened his mouth to protest, to say something, but Jander's words stopped him.  "Ignore her."  The elven vampire rolled his silver eyes.  "She's got a morbid sense of humor.  And the pancakes smell done.'

            "Panqueques," Nire muttered around the chewed up mass in her mouth.

            "Pancakes," Jander reiterated.  "You're not Spanish."

            "Juan bobo," she muttered, mischievously grinning at Abel.  "Jander es estupido porque su mama le dropped-o en su cabeza cuando era un joven."

            At the confused look, Jander provided, "She just said I was stupid because my mother dropped me on my head when I was little."

            The young man's body relaxed as the fight that never happened ended.  His lips quirked slightly, hesitantly returning her grin.  The last piece of his pancakes disappeared into his mouth.  When he swallowed, he stood up and went over to the sink, rinsing off his plate and putting it in the dishwasher.  Nire followed his example, doing the same.  She snickered softly as she did.

            "What?" Nick asked, still slightly miffed.

            "Nothing," she said nonchalantly.  "I just got the sudden urge to toss the plate on the floor just to see it break."

            Nick raised an eyebrow slightly at that.  But he said nothing as the three people roped to the living room.  His mind was roiling in turbulent waves as he stacked the pancakes on a plate.  In the back of his mind, he heard the hair dryer stop; meaning Natalie would be downstairs soon.  Mortality might not be possible for now, but something close to it was obviously accessible.  He could *eat* again, instead of feeding.  He could go to mass, read a Bible.  Would sunlight be part of the bargain?  Could he have that too?

            He drizzled the strawberries and the red juice over the top of the stack of pancakes and then sprinkled powdered sugar over that.  Setting it at her place, he added a glass of orange juice.  With perfect timing, Natalie walked down the stairs, sniffing the air.

            "Mm, that smells delicious."  A happy smile spread across her face as she saw the simple, yet delectable-looking presentation.  "It looks almost *too* good to eat."

            Extremely pleased, she hugged Nick and kissed him soundly.  This was a wonderful start to the morning.  Nick's thoughts were drawn from speculating on other offering of the potion by her warm body.  But as soon as she sat down, he returned to his thoughts.  He would do almost anything for mortality or something close to it.  But the death of a child? No, that was too much, far beyond him.  Perhaps she could teach him how to make it and he would on it on his own…

~~~~{@

            Five minutes after the lift door had clanged shut, Nire grinned devilishly.  "Yes!  They're gone!  We've got the whole place to ourselves…" She drifted off speculatively.

            As Abel began to get nervous, Jander rolled his eyes, something he seemed to do a lot.  "And what are you going to do that you can't do when they're here, M'ija?  You hear Nick - he's dropping off Natalie, going to the store, and picking her back up.  They'll be home in an hour and a half."

            "I don't know yet," Nire said blithely.  "But isn't there just something… relaxing about being alone in a building?"

            Abel knew what she was talking about - he understood perfectly.  When he was alone, he could do as he pleased.  He didn't have to worry about being at Kane's beck and call, or worry about his brother looking over his shoulder and making him feel like an idiot.  The walls may try to run away from him, but they *never* judged.  They *never* tried to physically hurt him.

            Nire's eyes alighted on Nick's state-of-the-art sound system.  "Oo!  Music… You know how to work it, kitty kat?"

            "No," he said nervously, cringing slightly.

            Nire shrugged.  "No matter.  I bet I can figure it out easy.  What kind of music do you like chico?"

            Abel shrugged.  "I don't know."

            Nire held her hand out flat, and a CD appeared in it.  "Mix CD," she said proudly, heading for the expensive equipment.  After fiddling for a couple minutes, the mellow sounds of Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence" came through the speakers.

            "Oh yeah, that's real music," she said, vaulting over the back of the couch and landing next to Jander.  "Yo yo yo, I'm bored."

            Abel whimpered softly to himself.  Boredom had made Kane violent.  What would it do to Nire?

            She glanced at him.  "Is there one phrase in the world that you're *not* afraid of?"  She managed to make the frustrated phrase into a gently question.

            Abel valiantly tried to think of something, anything, not wanting to lie.  But even simple phrases such as 'good morning'… He shuddered slightly.  With the amount of people he had been loaned out to, nothing was left untouched.

            "Come on," Nire prompted gently.  "There's got to be something, some word, some action that's not going to make you cringe like I'm about to hit you."

            One thing immediately popped into his head, and he whispered it quietly.  "When you purr."  That was probably the one thing no one had ever done around him.

            Nire grinned.  "See?  I know there had to be something."  She drummed her fingers to the beat of DMX 'Who We Be'.  "Soy aburridado!  Voy a morir de boredom-o."

            "Shut up, Nire," Jander said mildly.

            "Make me, monkey boy,' she joked.

            Jander looked himself up and down and grinned at Abel.  "I was once a mortal, once an elf, once a vampire.  But last time I checked I was never a monkey."

            Nire tumbled over the back of the couch and began doing back flips, surprisingly agile for someone her size.  She could only use one hand, but it was enough.  Eventually, she was doing gymnastics double-time to David Sylvain's "I Surrender".

            "La la la la la la I surrender."  She came to a sudden stop, looking around confusedly.  "If I were a hand, where would I hide?" she mused.

            Abel threw a confused look at Jander, who merely rolled his eyes.  The young man transferred his attention back to Nire.  After a few seconds, he realized that one of the sleeves of her white sweatshirt didn't have a hand poking from it.

            "Me sleeve!" she said as though it were an ingenious realization.  As she peeked inside and her hand popped out, she shrieked and began to laugh.  "Oh, I crack myself up."

            Abel began to laugh quietly, too.  That had actually been funny.  Although he logically knew that she was just fooling around, the look on her face was priceless.  She continued to bounce around like a happy child, chanting out her boredom in various languages.

            Jander rolled his eyes at Abel.  "I swear, she has tripolar disorder.  She can be a happy adult, a depressed adult, or, when there's no adults around, the psychotic child you see now."

            Abel smiled hesitantly. The two of them seemed to exude a calming aura.  Even Nire, in her bounciness, did not unnerve him as much as Natalie did even when she was trying not to.  Nire had the relaxing scent, and Jander, the soothing voice.  He could feel himself beginning to relax, to actually feel relatively safe.

            The feeling was shattered as a little boy appeared from nowhere and the CD track switched to Aerosmith's 'Dream On'.  Nire stopped her flipping, whirling to face the child.  Abel cringed into the chair as he took in her angry look.

            "Micah," she growled.  "What are you doing here?"

Note:  'Panqueques' are obviously pancakes.  'Juan bobo' means something like 'foolish guy', or something like that.  I don't remember exactly.  'Soy aburridado' means 'I am bored', 'cept I think I might have made up the word 'aburridado'.  'Voy a morir de boredom-o' is 'I'm going to die of boredom'.