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Niko, near the end of what looks to be a particularly long letter home, looks up to call, "Anything you want me to tell the folks in Mathraki, hon?"

Elasia glances up from her own reading, some sort of research bit. "Send my love? I'd appreciate it."

Niko nods agreeably. "Sure, no problem. And I'm telling Cip," he adds innocently, "That she can send Sochos whenever she likes. Just stuff him in a box and smack some postage on it."

Elasia stifles a quiet ack, peering up over the back of the couch. "Three year olds in boxes are right out, Niko. The mail room'd have our heads!"

Niko muffles a snicker or seven. "Yeah, and customs. Not to mention how confused the poor kid would be. Not that she'd actually send him, of course."

Elasia hmphs quietly, her tone one of amusement as she settles back down comfortably. "Poor kid, yeah. The Complex is significantly different than Mathraki."

Niko nods rather emphatically. "Not to mention the fact that he doesn't speak a word of Standard, and hasn't even -heard- the language."

Elasia can't help but blink a few times at that. Not speaking the language she can comprehend. Never having heard it, to someone who was raised on it as a second tongue, well, it's a startling concept. "That'd be culture shock something fierce, yeah."

Niko nods firmly. "That's what I keep trying to tell Losi and Zoey. Both of them are nuts to visit. They at least can speak some Standard, but this place is so -different-."

Elasia nods slowly at that, reaching down a teasing finger to torment Scutter as the kitten attempts to kill random bits of fluff. "Especially if they've never been anyplace else first. Still though, they well might enjoy it. Especially just for a visit."

Niko considers that. "Maybe Zoey. She's fifteen, and pretty mature for fifteen. But Losi... mm. Bad idea. Though Mom and Dad might let them travel -together-, especially if Aspasia came, too." His expression at the thought of having three of his sisters visiting at once is mingled mock-horror and a purely unfeigned delight. "Maybe," he says finally. "Depends on Mom and Dad, and their schedules and such."

Elasia can't quite stifle a chuckle at your expression. "Such things often depend on scheduling. It would be quite amusing. Perhaps you could snag some time off, and could show them around."

Niko scribbles a few more lines to the letter before signing it with a flourish and folding it in preparation for the envelope. "Maybe. That depends on scheduling, too. We'll see what Mom and Dad say, first. It'd be nice to see them, though. You'd just have to promise not to listen to Losi's evil stories."

Elasia gives you an innocent look that's patently false, "Me? Listen to anything evil? You must be confusing me with someone else."

Niko snickers as he tucks the letter into the envelope. "Oh, sure. You'd never listen to my baby sister's stories about how evil I was to her. Never ever ever."

Elasia shakes her head, still in such excessive innocence. "Oh no, of -course- not. That would be wrong."

Niko gets to his feet, moving closer, the better to tickle you. "And she'd be making it all up, the evil little monster." His tone is fond, but he allows, "She's creative, at least."

Elasia attempts to escape tickling by hiding beneath her research reading. Okay, so it's not much of a shield. "Making them up is she? Uh-huh, -yeah-, right."

You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.

Niko mercifully stops the tickling, though he looks decidedly amused as he settles to a seat and scoops up the kitten. "She likes embarrassing me. She's a good kid, though."

Elasia stops attempting to escape, and instead moves to sit closer to you. "Embarassing older siblings is the jib of younger siblings. It's a hard and fast rule."

Niko looks decidedly pleased as you move closer, sliding an arm around you. "But not -all- younger siblings do that. I don't embarrass Riley, after all."

"Then you are not doing it right," Elasia asserts, chuckling as she curls comfortably beside you.

Niko grins crookedly. "Well, see he's also my boss, so embarrassing him is probably not the best of ideas."

Elasia nods after a pause, "True enough, true enough..." She chuckles, "Still, some minor evil at least would seem to be called for."

Niko edges just a bit closer to you. "As long as I don't redecorate his office again, as fun as that was." He snickers quietly. "That really -was- fun. Addie's a great kid."

Elasia nods, looking thoughtful. "Something evil, but not damaging the office...Hrmm..." She nods, "Addie is vastly amusing, and quite bright."

Niko nods his agreement, with a bright grin. "Hey, we could steal -her-. That wouldn't involve stuffing small children in boxes, after all. And you're a lot more evil than I am, hon. Maybe -you- could think of something I could do to Riley."

Elasia grins up at you in amusement. "Anya'd probably object if we didn't give her back though." She nods, "Give me time, I'm sure I can think of -something-."

Niko nods once more. "Yeah. Bribing her with raspberries might not be enough to get her to give up her firstborn." With a shake of his head, he adds, "It's weird, people are asking me about our plans for kids already--Kya asked if we'd started talking about names. Talk about bizarre." Leaning closer to snitch a kiss, he adds, "Thinking of something would be good, yeah."

Elasia is more than welcome to have a kiss swiped, "Good grief, we're not even -married- yet, and people want to know what we're naming our children?" She stifles a snicker, "Good grief, talk about getting ahead of the game."

Niko nods his agreement. "I keep -telling- people it's too soon," he says, looking decidedly amused. "At the very least, we need to get married first."

Elasia nods rather emphatically, curling in against you. "And we need to wait til it would actually be a good time as well. A Junior diplomat and a newish Secoff have such screwy schedules, a kitten's about all we can manage just yet."

Niko kisses your temple, quite happy to have you curled up against him. "Exactly. But there are folks who don't seem to understand that, it's really obnoxious. Speaking of getting married, though, we should probably figure out about that at some point."

Elasia nods after grinning up at you fondly. "We probably ought to. It won't just happen magically if we don't think about it."

Niko mumbles something about clicking his heels together three times. There's nothing like getting married? "Yeah, you're right. Too bad, it'd be really nice otherwise. Maybe we should come up with some sort of date, at least? Would your folks come here for a wedding?"

Elasia nods to that, without a pause. "Yeah, they would. My youngest sister might have trouble, but the rest would be here without a blink. But what about your family? They don't travel and all..."

Niko's expression is just a bit troubled, but he shakes his head. "Maybe the younger folk will come. We can maybe take a trip out there to see them when we've got time, but... well, are we going to be able to get enough time off any time soon for the transit back and forth and a decent visit? Not to mention that planning a wedding is bad enough, but planning one on a planet at the back end of nowhere..."

There's a quiet moment before Elasia shakes her head. "Not too soon, no. It would definately be a while before I had that kind of time..."

Niko nods, though not without a quiet sigh. "And I don't really want to ask for that much time. Not yet. And, more importantly, I don't want to wait to marry you. Not that long. So... the folks will have to understand."

Elasia nods, although there's a pause before she does so. "Here then, that will please a lot of people. Which brings us back to when."

Niko inquires, after a moment, "Would -you- rather wait, love? Have it on Hellas? I just thought..."

Elasia shakes her head rather emphaticaly, "I don't want to wait... I'd marry you tonight if I could. I don't want your family to be upset though."

Niko considers that for a moment. "We could elope," he suggests, half in jest. "Just get married tonight. And my family will be... unhappy that they won't be able to be here, but I think they'll understand."

Elasia stifles a snicker, "Hey, eloping sounds lovely to -me-. So much -simpler-... We could take a couple days off and dash away to get married."

Niko looks decidedly temped. "I've already promised Kya an invite, though," he says, with a shake of his head. "And she said that Riley's looking forward to the wedding, too. Small and simple is very good, though."

Elasia nods, looking a faint bit dissapointed. "Simple, small, these are good words indeed. Pomp ad circumstance we get enough daily."

Niko ponders that for a moment. "Is it still eloping if we bring along a couple people? I mean, we don't really have to go away--we could do that after. Maybe Riley could marry us..." And send you into alt hell. Still musing, he adds, "If we just told them we were married, the parents' protests would kind of be moot."

Elasia considers that a moment, half grinning, "Hey, if you think they'd let us get away with it..."

You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.

Niko considers that for a long moment. "I could ask him, if you like. Riley, that is. It'd definitely be simple. I'd certainly rather do that than plan a real wedding. And then if family come to visit, we could spend time with them, instead of worrying over wedding stuff."

Elasia nods to that, resting up against you. "It sounds like a lovely plan to me. Planninga real wedding just sounds hellish, especially with all the schedules involved."

Niko nods firmly to that. "Hellish. But Scutter has to be there," he adds, leaning over to ruffle the kitten's fur. "If we can manage it. We can put her in a basket or something, use her instead of flowers, maybe."

You say "Hey, Riley, how's things?" Funny, he sounds a little excited. Imagine that. "Got a minute, I've got a... well, no, it's not a -quick- question." into the communit.

Elasia laughs softly, eyes on the butterscotch kitten. "In a big white bow, perhaps. Which would last for all of ten minutes probably..."

Niko grins as he waits for a response. "Unless she's asleep. The blue bow lasted til you opened her box, but she was asleep."

Your communit crackles to life and says "Ask away, Nick." He sounds perhaps a bit vague. "Or would you rather discuss it face to face and all?" in Riley's voice.

Elasia watches the commed discussion, amused.

You say "Nah, comm's fine. You sound tired, I'll stay out of your hair. I was just wondering if you could take a little time sometime in the near future to marry Ela and me? We still haven't set a date, of course, but we figured that eloping would save some scheduling problems and such." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and blares "Can't help you there, Nick. I really never figured on going in for one of those group marriages." His tone is teasing, if elated. "Besides, see, I have Clara and all..." in Riley's voice.

You say "*muffled snicker* Aww, come on. Spoilsport. Clara can marry us, too! One big happy family. We can find more folks to marry us, too, if we look hard enough." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and blares "*snicker* I don't know, considering how stunned poor Clara looks at the mention of it, we better perhaps stick to the original plan. I'd be honored to do so, Nick." in Riley's voice.

You say "*delighted* Thanks, Riley. That'd be great, I really appreciate it. We'll have to get together at some point to figure out -when-, but if Clara's there to react to group marriage, I should probably leave y'all alone." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and announces "Together at some point is key, yeah. I have a pretty massive favor to ask of you at some point." in Riley's voice.

You say "Sure, Riley. Anything. You can ask now, or I can come bug you sometime, whatever works." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and announces "It's really not something for the comm. Bugging at some point would be better." in Riley's voice.

You say "All right. Just say the word, whenever's good for you." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and says "Your call, some point when you're on duty maybe. Don't wanna interrupt time off'n'all."" in Riley's voice.

You say "Preciate that, yeah. All right, I'll come find you tomorrow, then, maybe. Have a nice evening. And say hi to Clara for me, eh? I've got to welcome her back in person at some point." into the communit.

Your communit crackles to life and says "Will do." in Riley's voice.

Niko puts down his comm-unit, looking decidedly pleased. "Well, Riley won't join us in a group marriage, but he will get -us- married. And he's got a favor to ask, too--big deal, apparently. But it can wait."

Elasia blinks several times, "Group marriage..." There's a pause. "Y'all are just silly."

Niko muffles a snicker, nodding. "I asked if he'd marry us, see. And of course we're silly. Maybe it's a genetic thing." He leans over to claim a rather exuberant kiss, inquiring, "When do you want to get married, love? I can hash over dates with him tomorrow, too."

Elasia returns the kiss, albeit a bit sleepily. "As soon as you like, and can manage to arrange, love. Before it gets insane again."

Niko edges his arms around you. "Soon is good. Before more insanity is better. I just wanted to make sure you'd be able to be there, as it really wouldn't be worthwhile to get married, otherwise."

Elasia resumes her curl into your arms, eyes closing. "I can get some time. For that they'll let me have time."

Niko muffles a snicker. "I'd hope so, love." He leans down for a rather gentler kiss, inquiring, "Sleepy?"

Elasia mrrhrmms softly, "Afraid so, just came on me all of a sudden. Don't know why."

Niko shakes his head, arms tightening briefly around you. "Well, then, you should sleep. Sleeping when you're sleepy is a good thing."

"Sleep's good, yeah." Elasia seems disinclined to disagree, or even to move much.

Niko inquires, with a hint of amusement, "Want to stay here, or should I take you over to the bed?"

"Oh, sleep on the -bed-. Yeesh, some people are so picky," Elasia snickers sleepily to herself, but sets about disentangling herself and finding her feet. They're on the bottom of her legs.

Niko shakes his head as he gets to his feet, one arm slipping around you just in case you're a bit unsteady on those feet-at-the-end-of-the-legs. "Horribly picky," he murmurs, with a fond smile. "Just want you to be commfortable is all."

Elasia is more than willing to have your arm around her as she makes her way to the bed. Shoes are shed and she clambers beneath the blankets. "Sleep's good. G'night love."

Niko bends over to kiss your cheek. "Sleep well," he murmurs, expression fond.


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