A/N: I don't own GG.

Being Nisus and Euryalus

Sunlight streamed through the white, canvas tent. Rory grumbled into her pillow. The sounds of the great outdoors, were not so great to her. Since her mother had never taken her camping, the natural sounds of nature mad her twitch and long for the muted sounds of the city. Sounds muted by four, solid walls of protection from the wild outdoors. A new day of adventure waited for her, but she wasn't Calamity Jane – she was Rory Gilmore, a girl in desperate need of coffee and a shower. Knowing neither was likely, she rolled from the cot, determined to face the day. She was here for a story; the whole thing with Logan was secondary to her scoop.

"You decent, love?" Finn called from the outside of her tent.

A smile played on her lips; she heard the innuendo in Finn's voice.

"I'm dressed. You can come in," Rory answered through the canvas door.

"You look ravishing this morning," Finn announced. "The mountain air suits you."

Rory blushed at his compliment. "Careful Finn, if you compliment me too much when the sun is still high, I might not believe you're Dr. Glendon and then what would you do?"

Dramatically, Finn threw his hand over his heart. "The mountain air and your radiance are as potent as any Tibetan flower juice!"

"Finn!" Stephanie called.

"My task!" Finn said, as if just remembering it. "I nearly forgot."

Rory watched as Finn left the tent, only to return minutes later with a cup of steaming coffee. Mute due to shock and soon to be rectified caffeine deprivation, Rory took the offered coffee. With reverence, she inhaled the brew before bringing the cup to her lips.

"My task is complete. Someone will be along to fetch you for the festivities," Finn told her.

He was gone before she could respond. Rory shook her head; Finn was one-of-a-kind. Not knowing how much time she'd have, Rory quickly washed her face and changed back into her own clothes. She'd meant to change last night, but with everything that happened, she'd simply forgotten and fallen into bed, exhausted. Once she was as presentable as she could be, she perched herself on the cot and began to review last night's notes.

For a moment, he simply watched her. The expressions chased themselves across her face as she read through her notebooks. The cup he'd had Finn bring her sat empty next to the wash bin. Nature looked good on her; Finn had been right.

"Ready, Ace?" Logan asked, knowing he needed to get them around people. He'd told her they'd be friends, and in order to do that they needed to be in a less intimate setting.

"Another day, another woodland surprise," Rory responded.

"Finn was supposed to have you get ready," Logan told her. He'd been so distracted by, well, her that he hadn't noticed what she was wearing.

"I am ready. Finn brought me coffee," Rory answered, confused.

"Dressed like that?"

"Well, I didn't have the 'it's an overnight thing' warning, so unless you want me to fashion something out of pinecones, which I should warn you I wouldn't be very good at because my mother never took me camping, this is it."

Logan smirked. "That clothing is going to interfere with the integrity of our event and you agreed not to interfere with the integrity of our event."

"In that case, you'd better have another sartorial surprise for me. My wardrobe, or lack of wardrobe, is your fault."

"My fault?"

"Yes. Being spontaneous doesn't exactly allow one to plan time period appropriate, non-integrity interfering attire."

"Look around, Ace. You'll find what you need."

Rory looked around her tent. There was the washbasin, the now empty pitcher, her empty coffee mug and the cot. Knowing she couldn't ask Logan again without him giving her some sarcastic, non-helpful comment, she kept looking. She pulled up the sheet, and found a white dress box under the cot.

"I'll wait outside," Logan told her.

She could hear the smirk in his voice, but bit back her remark. He'd clearly planned ahead. Once she'd situated herself on the cot, she pulled off the lid and found a gorgeous blue dress inside. Unlike the white dress from last night, this dress was made for balls and elegant dance halls. It even had a shawl, which was a darker shade of blue. The overall dress highlighted the color of her eyes and fit her as if it had been tailor made to suit her.

"I've got your event integrity right here, mister," Rory sad as she walked up behind Logan.

He spun around to face her and drank in the whole picture. She was a vision; one that he feared would disappear if he so much as blinked. He stood, frozen and watched the wind gently toss her hair around. A piece of her hair flew in front of her face, and he stepped closer to her and tucked the hair behind her ear. Up this close, she looked even more ethereal. He knew they'd decided to be friends, their conversation from the previous evening haunting him. He was a damn fool, just like Finn'd told him.

Rory couldn't quite read the expression on Logan's face. He seemed almost pained, but not entirely…or not a painful kind of pain. The pain after a really good deep-tissue massage. She loved the dress, and from the way he reacted to seeing her in the dress, he liked it, too. Which was good since he'd picked it out for her. At least, she assumed he picked it out for her. The butterflies in her stomach that took up residence every time she was alone, and near Logan began to move swifter within her as she thought about Logan buying dresses for her. Dresses that were beautiful, clearly expensive, and perfectly fitted. Sure, he hadn't told her about the weekend, so providing her with clothing was a nice gesture, but somehow she knew there was more to it than mere necessity.

"Yep. I got an eye for dress sizes," Logan murmured, hoping his voiced didn't sound as weak to Rory as it did to his own ears.

Rory and Logan stared at each other, close enough that they breathed the same air; neither had attempted to add any space between them. Stephanie and Colin found them staring into each other's eyes with no space between them. The pair shared a concerned look before interrupting the silent, but intense scene.

"Logan," Stephanie said, breaking the silence.

Colin and Stephanie watched as Logan and Rory, as if waking from a dream, pulled apart. The look, the hurt, on each of their faces was staggering. Clearly, nothing was going to make the situation between the couple any easier.

"Everyone's waiting for you two," Colin said. "It's time to make Gilmore here one of us."

"You make us sound like pod people, Colin. It's not very flattering," Stephanie scolded.

"It only counts as pod people if you recite 'one of us' like a monotone mantra," Colin explained knowingly.

"You are a closet geek, Colin," Stephanie informed him, a broad smile on her face.

"I thought they said we were late, Ace. Didn't you hear them say we were late?" Logan asked.

"I do believe those were the words used," Rory agreed.

"Let's go," Stephanie said, she grabbed Rory's hand before Logan could. It was fleeting, but she saw the dirty look he cast in her direction before the two girls took off towards the gathering.

"So, you and Colin – " Rory let the statement hang in the air.

"Argue like an old married couple. We know," Stephanie responded. "And you and Logan are – "

"Just friends," Rory finished, perhaps a bit too quickly.

The quartet stumbled in their attempt to sneak into the gathered group's midst. Finn stood on top of a sort of stage, a glass of champagne in one hand and a mallet in the other. When he saw the group approach he smiled and raised his glass in a salute.

"Since our guests of honor have deigned themselves worthy of our humble assemblage," Finn began, "I do declare here gathered, the one hundred and eighth assembly of the honorable Life and Death Brigade."

Rory smiled at Finn's ostentatious speech. Her heart beat faster when she felt Logan stop behind her; his breath was hot on the back of her neck, even through the shawl. He reached around her and placed a glass of champagne in her hand.

"It's morning," Rory told Logan.

"It's a mimosa. Next time I'll add some orange juice."

She rolled her eyes.

"Please raise your glasses. In Omnia Paratus!" Finn toasted.

"In Omnia Paratus!" the group responded.

Logan spun Rory to face her. He couldn't run the risk of Stephanie stealing her away again. Sure they were just friends, but he was a selfish, entitled rich boy and he would monopolize Rory's friendship as often as she allowed.

She was glad Logan had a firm grip on her because she nearly lost her balance when he spun her around. The shoes weren't exactly made for roughing it in the woods. She was about to ask what he was doing when he locked their elbows and brought his cup to her lips. Mirroring his actions, she drank down the sweet, bubbly liquid. The ritual of the toast felt more intimate than it should especially since she and Logan were just friends. She wondered how long she'd need to keep that reminder handy. Just when her heart had returned to a normal speed and pattern, she felt Logan's hands cover her ears. It was a bit unnerving that she was already so familiar with his touch, but further thoughts left her mind when she felt and heard the clang of the giant gong Finn had just hit.

She turned around to thank him for protecting her ears, but his hands were still around her eyes, so when she turned she found herself basically wrapped in his arms. Her throat went dry and the words she'd summoned only seconds before were completely gone, as if they'd never existed. The only thing in her world at that moment was Logan. Somewhat dimly she was aware of the frenzied activity around her. The din of so many people abated to an annoying hum of background noise. She could hear the beating of her heart and her blood pumping through her veins. Finding herself in positions like this with Logan shouldn't surprise her; it seemed as if they spent more time than this than not, especially recently. Her just friends line, which was once so loud in her mind, was almost as silent as a whisper's echo.

"Rory," Logan breathed. He needed her like air. As much as he wanted to deny it, to fight it, he couldn't; he needed her. She was in his arms, again and in that moment he couldn't think of a good reason to avoid commitment. They'd decided to be friends. She'd agreed to be in his life as a friend because he couldn't to commitment (which was true) and she couldn't and shouldn't do casual. He understood why she'd only had two boyfriends. Anyone who'd been fortunate enough to be chosen by her would undoubtedly hang on for dear life and thank God for every precious moment she allowed him to stick around. It was because of this knowledge that he knew he needed to break the spell. He was the one unable to allow their relationship to be anything more, it was on him to be strong.

She could have screamed at him for pulling back. More importantly, she could have screamed at him for having the strength to pull back. Yet, she didn't. She silently thanked him for being able to break the trance they'd lapsed into. Apparently Logan wasn't the only one in desperate need of space. Her head was completely foggy, and she just didn't think straight around him.

"Alright you lot," Finn called from the stage, gathering everyone's attention. "We're doing things a bit differently today because we're welcoming a new member to our glorious group. Rory Gilmore, are you here, love?"

Rory smiled; she knew he knew exactly where she was, but had to add something dramatic to every action he made. She waved her arm above her head until Finn acknowledge her presence.

"I need you up here, love," Finn whispered into the microphone.

"Was it your idea to give him a mic?" Rory growled to Logan as she passed him on her way to the stage.

He smiled after her, knowing the comment was rhetorical.

"In my capacity as honorable master of ceremonies for this gathering of the Life and Death Brigade, I would ask a current member to speak to Miss Gilmore's eligibility," Finn called in a clear, dignified voice.

Rory covered her mouth to hide her laugh. It was just cute to see Finn all serious.

Logan moved forward, out of the crowd. "I will speak for Miss Gilmore."

The pair shared a look, his rote comment suddenly full of dangerous, intoxicating possibilities.

"Ah, excellent. Young Master Huntzberger will speak for her. Ah, but we have a slight, er, problem," Finn continued. "It appears that our recruiters were too smashed to locate this lovely creature last year and as such, she needs a second member to speak for her."

Colin, wearing a tux similar to those of every other male (except he wore a top hat) also made his way forward. "I will second for Miss Gilmore."

"Fantastic, Mister McCrae. Please join us upon this point of honor." Finn beckoned Colin forward with his hand. "As first, it falls to Master Huntzberger to accompany Miss Gilmore on her first Life and Death Brigade feat of glory. As second, Mister McCrae must fill in for Master Huntzberger if he is unable to complete his task. It is also the burden of Mister McCrae to outline Miss Gilmore's eligibility to join our group."

Colin stepped forward and took the microphone away from Finn while muttering something that sounded like "pompous ass" under his breath. "Honored Brigadiers, Miss Gilmore has the blood of two strong lineages. On her mother's side, she is a Gilmore. Her grandfather, a Yale alumnus and member of the Life and Death Brigade, would be enough. But, her lineage is further distinguished by her father's blood line, that of the Hayden clan. While the Hayden's are tied to Princeton, their influence in the Hartford society cannot be denied."

Rory tried to keep her face solemn to fit the ceremony, but when she heard about her less than normal family in such courtly terms it made her want to giggle, and giggle, and giggle. Oh, how her mother would laugh at this.

"Excellent," Finn said once Colin handed the microphone back. "Now that the boring bit is finished, I'll announce the time for Miss Gilmore's inaugural feat of glory." He paused for effect, and smirked when he saw Rory's glare. "I pronounce the time to be two and one-quarter hours from now. Everyone, may the wine flow freely!"

Rory rounded on the trio of boys, who looked entirely too innocent. "Feat of glory?"

Logan smiled at her. "I'd start thinking of superlatives, Ace."

A chapter to make your Monday a little brighter! And as an added bonus, I promise a Rogan kiss before Christmas, just something to look forward to! Share your thoughts!