Sand and Snow

Brian accio'd mugs of tea. One for each of them. When they arrived in the bathroom, he set his on the vanity, and he sat next to Khaat on the edge of the tub, feeding her sips of hot tea. He knew someone would have seen the two mugs fill with tea and then float off upstairs and know they were back. But so far, he was determined to keep things very quiet for her until she was unthawed and could think again. He had not found any frostbite, although he wasn't sure how she had escaped that. She had some symptoms of hypothermia, which he had expected, but less by far than what she should have had. He was now grateful he'd bought that extra heavy black suede coat and that she had chosen it last night.

Khaat began to come back into her own thinking as she began to feel herself warm up again. As she had sat in the cold, everything had faded away but her desire to be closer to Remus's love. But now, with warmth, she was beginning to be able to think again. It was coming back.

She began to recognize some things. The first thing she recognized was Brian. He was sitting with her and he had poured warm water down over her hair to warm her. She called to him very softly, her voice sounding awkward in her own ears.

"I"m here," he said softly, kissing her forehead. Her skin was still cold against his warm lips.

"Did...I...did...i go...crazy?" she asked awkwardly, fearfully.

"No," he said. "You were out in the cold, remember?" She thought. Oh yes, the snow.

"There...was snow," she said, trying to think.

"That's right. You were out in the snow way too long. That's all. It'll come back when you warm up. You just got too cold. You were lucky we found you when we did. You're going to be alright."

"But..." she began, frowning.

"What?"

"I wasn't alright before. Its why I left..somehow..." she said, not fully remembering what had been so painful.

"Give it time," he soothed. "It'll be okay. You need to warm up first. Here. More tea. It'll help warm you up."

Angus had heard the water running in the master bathroom across the hall from the nursery. He had glanced out in the hallway and had seen two mugs float past and into the bedroom. Once he had the babies dressed, he put them in the playpen in the nursery and walked across the hall quietly. The door wasn't entirely shut. He knocked lightly, got no answer and went in. He heard voices in the bathroom, and the door was ajar. He knocked very lightly.

"Come in," Brian said. Khaat was up to her shoulders in bubbles, so he saw no harm. Angus went in and found Brian sitting with her feeding her tea.

"You two alright?" He asked.

"Fine," Brian said.

"Was she..."

"You were right," Brian said. He had known without asking where the two of them believed she had gone. "She was like ice. She had to have been there for hours."

"Then you're doing the right thing. Any frostbite?"

"No, thank God."

"How's the knee?"

"Miserable."

"We're fixing it tomorrow. Just hang in for Kate's sake. I'll bring you some pain potion. You two want breakfast?"

"Yes. Please."

"Coming right up. Give me at least ten minutes. I'll send it up so you can take care of your knee and so that she can warm up."

"Thanks. I'll try to be more sociable after breakfast. I promise."

"Don't worry about that. We have it under control," Angus said. "I'll send up more tea, too." He went back downstairs and poured more chamomile tea into a carafe and sent it upstairs. Then he said to Steven and Cassidy. "They're back. Khaat's fine. She's just been overly exposed to the snow. Brian has her in a nice warm bubble bath. I'm sure he's going to get her into a warm nightgown and into bed until she finishes thawing out. But they've decided not to go out for breakfast. We'll be sending up trays for them. And Brian is going to need ice, pillows and pain potion for his knee. And..." he looked at the clock. "Michael will be here within the hour. I wouldn't be surprised if he joined us for breakfast. By the way, the house looks great, Cassidy. Oh, damn. I didn't bring the girls down for breakfast. They're not going to be happy with me. They're bathed and dressed, but I left them in the playpen in the nursery. Can I get you to go get them, Steven, please? If they wait much longer, they're really going to be angry with me."

"Good," Angus said. "I have breakfast for them." When the girls were in their high chairs, he put for them a bit of scrambled eggs in a bowl for them, along with pieces of banana, little pieces of breakfast potatoes, and bottles with their milk. He had bottles of juice in the fridge if they still wanted those later. He tried to always be at least one bottle ahead. Abbey made him smile. She rarely ever threw her food. She was always happy, and she loved food. She prefered to use her fingers to eat, though, and she was eager to eat today. She seemed extra hungry.

Dakota was far more interested in banging on the high chair's tray and screaming just to delight in hearing the sound of her own voice. Angus laughed. "I did not teach her to do that," Angus said. He shook his head, sighing. Dakota's screaming didn't even seem to phase Abbey. That made Angus laugh. "This child is just permanently happy. And her sister is a live wire. When we've gotten them fed, I have Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast for us with coconut syrup, and some eggs. But it is so much easier to feed these two first."

Upstairs, Brian had decided the water was getting cold. He let the water out of the tub and found Khaat could at least minimally dry herself off. He brought her a warm nightgown and slipper socks. He apologized in advance for the use of magic rather than a more personal touch, and he levitated her to bed. He followed, covered her and made sure she had pillows to sit up and lean against. He summoned the tea mugs and managed a shower for himself and clean clothes and a shave. He came back into the bedroom and found the new carafe of tea. He warmed up both their mugs and made his way over to his side of the bed, shoved a stack of pillows against the headboard to lean against and sat on the bed, stretching out his legs. He could not suppress a small cry of pain. His knee was badly swollen. It was so swollen it was pulling at the seams of his jeans.

She looked at him and then saw the swelling in his knee. She took both her hands and wrapped them around his knee. She drew off the pain, and when it did, it was such a change his head spun. He leaned his head back against the pillows. "Thank you," he whispered. She left her hands in place and drew off some of the swelling. They both knew it was only temporary, but it would at least make him more comfortable for the moment.

"Your father is the finest healer I know," he said to her softly, trying to catch his breath from the pain. "But even he does not have the gifts in his hands that you have in yours. Thank you, Khaat."

"You wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for me," she said. He caressed her cheek.

"Baby," he said. "We'll talk about it later. Not now. Let it go for right now, okay?"