Chapter 2

Something was buzzing near Logan Alexander Forbes' ear, and the vibration accompanying it brought a smile to his sleeping fetures at the rather pleasant sensation…

He snuggled in closer to the feeling which was adding to his dream…

It was a nice dream.

Well, it had been, until what he began to nestle into became more like a wasp as his subconscious looked for some way of provoking him awake.

Logan's relaxed features began to crease towards a frown as realisation began to dawn, and he grumbled his way to semi consciousness, knowing now it was his phone….

'Let it go to voice mail' The dream side of him enticed, 'let's continue…'

The buzzing stopped, and with a smirky sigh, he headed back to his…

The buzzing began again, and this time he forced himself upright,

"What the..?"

This was not so much in reaction to the phonecall, but where he found himself, and he reached up with one hand to rub his head roughly and drag his palm across his face, giving himself a slap or three on the cheek to both wake up and admonish himself.

His disorientation at his location was due to finding sometime last night he must have simply keeled over to the left on his couch and fallen asleep.

"Why…?"

This was more directed at the phone he was now trying to retrieve from under a cushion, as his other hand managed to poke himself in the eye with the end of his glasses before they made it to his face.

The clarity of vision instantly added a frown, it was still, most definitely in the realms of night, rather than a new day.

Stars. He could still see stars outside in the inky sky, with only the barest hint of the coming sun at the horizon.

The buzzing stopped, and he flopped back onto his side.

"Logan is out…leave a message…" He mumbled, as one hand vaguely thumped at the cushion under his head to make it comfy, then slipped off his glasses and dropped them on the floor.

A long sigh followed as he began to step back towards sleep..

"Who rings anyone at this hour?"

Not that he knew the time exctly, but it was definitely unreasonable o'clock.

Buzz buzz…buzz buzz…

"Oh for the love of Archimeides…"

The dusky blonde haired librarian sat up and slid a hand under the cushion, finally retrieving the insistent device.
He stared down at it for another few seconds, in two minds whether to just turn the infernal thing off …it was a very good dream…and he probably wasn't awake enough yet for it to be too difficult to return to.

He brought the phone closer, to focus the caller ID, and it was like a large slap in the face, his fingers hastily sliding across the screen to accept the call, as he leant down to fish for his glasses.

"Good morning, Logan."

The rich, deep tones of Head of the Takeda empire carried the smile he was wearing, as he could picture exactly the receiver's current state.

"Is it?"

With a frown Logan looked out of one of the large sash windows opposite him, then shut his eyes and gave his head a brisk shake to try and rouse his brain,

"I challenge your definition, Takeda Harunobu, I like my mornings with actual daylight."

Reclining back in his sumptuous office chair, the chiseled frame of The Tiger, once the famed samurai Lord of Kai, nodded a young girl forward who had brought his midday tea, then chuckled,

"The world will turn soon enough."

His eyes wandered over the pretty thing as she poured, and he sent her a decidedly predatory smirk, then grinned as she blushed brightly and fled his office,

"I need to pick that brain of yours, is it awake yet? Or should I hang up and keep ringing until it is?"

The thought of more buzzing saw the younger man grimace, and Logan forced his dozing body to get up and half stumble over strewn books on its way to his kitchen,

"At least give me a minute to put the kettle on."

The phone was now sitting between his head and his shoulder as he opened his fridge, blinking at the sudden onslaught of its merry, if dazzling, light as he retrieved a carton of milk,

"Why are you ringing? Or is it just to torture librarians from long distance?"

The kettle now set to its task, he leant heavily on a counter top and put the phone on its glossy surface, along with tapping the call to go on speaker,

"Because you can count success on that…I was actually having a rather nice dream…"

A part of his mind recoiled, he was still too asleep for this conversation, fancy sharing something like that?

With a cough, he took off his glasses and ran some water in the sink, its cold shock to his face helping somewhat, then after rubbing his face dry with a tea towel, slung it over his shoulder and leant on the counter again.

In Tokyo, the Tiger laughed heartily, and putting down his cup, picked up a beautifully presented wagashi and eyed it as he spoke,

"I'm sure comparing what I consider a nice dream with yours might be too much for you Logan, mine tend to be book free…and quite…athletic."

Popping the treat in his mouth, he briefly considered taking the young office girl to lunch…then to other 'activities'.

Well, if anything was going to really wake him up, that comment certainly did, and he pulled a face as he recoiled from the counter, heading to retrieve a mug,

"Please don't put those sorts of images in my head. It's far, far too early for me to even think of an appropriate response."

"Indeed. Another time."

Harunobu's face grew serious as he dusted off his fingers,

"Have you found it?"

In London a mind had drifted to pondering why kettles invaribly took forever to boil under scrutiny, and with a sigh, Logan returned to the counter top and leant over his phone,

"No. Hints here and there, but nothing like an actual book, or anything substantial."

He didn't like admitting Harunobu's request had so far eluded him, and his gaze fell to the small sea of books surrounding his couch, some open, some closed with coloured reference tags peeking out of their pages,

"I've sent a few obscure requests to some friends in odd places, but to be honest, my own collection should have something here somewhere."

"You surprise me Logan, I thought you had read everything in your library."

Harunobu chuckled, knowing full well the taunt would rankle the man on the other end of the line.

"I might have read everything, but I don't necessarily remember it all…I'm not a bloody computer you know."

Logan knew Harunobu was only pulling his leg, but still…

At least the aroma of coffee meeting his senses was welcome, and on his way back to the fridge to replace the milk, he continued,

"So why are you calling? I'm beginning to think it really was just for your lunchtime entertainment."

Damn that fridge light was bright, he winced, shutting the door as quickly as possible, then picking up his phone and his coffee, headed to his kitchen table overlooking the Thames.

He was just about to sit, when he gave a flat, exasperated stare at the room in general, and went back to retrieve his glasses, speaking over his shoulder,

"You said it wasn't particulary urgent, has that changed?'

From his high rise office in Tokyo, Harunobu sat up as his expression shifted to one of more amber eyed intensity. He tended to forget most people didn't remember what they had for breakfast two years ago, where he had over five hundred years of crystal clear memories,

"Not 'urgent' urgent…" His shift in tone underlined the word, "But…relevant."

Yes, he grinned at his tea, that summed it up perfectly.

Riddles on top of a four a.m. call? Logan's brain definitely had no clever quip for that at this hour, and he said nothing, just sipped his coffee and stared, unseeing, out the winow as the light on the horizon still was only vaguely thinking of becoming a dawn.

"I'm sending someone to help your research."

The Tiger paused to drain his cup,

"Although she doesn't know that yet..'

A questioning expression found its way onto tired features in London as he stared down at his phone,

"Help? I don't need any help…just what do you mean by…?"

Some further details clicked into his sleepy brain, and his eyes widened,

"Wait, you said 'she'?"

"Yes, Logan, and she's likely to be jet lagged and pissed off, so offer her a coffee before asking her anything."

Feeling rather smug, he picked up his phone, "Have a good day, Logan."
and cut the call, as a laugh then bounced its way round his office.

In a very good imitation of his pet goldfish, Logan opened and closed his mouth in perplexed atonishment, both at the words, and the definite 'click' of Hrunobu hanging up on him.

Now his mind refused to work at all, it had gone totally blank, and he tilted his empty mug and sighed at the lack of contents, he really must be still asleep, he didn't even remember drinking it.

"Ah" Standing up, he headed back towards his kitchen as one thought suddenly appeared,

"Lucid dreaming. I've read about this…any moment, I'll wake up on the couch…
                …
                       …."

Unfortunately after standing staring at it for several seconds, the only thing which happened was he got cold, and he lifted his glasses to rub his eyes, before replacing them,

"What a strange way to start the day.."

And turning to his where his goldfish was happily swimming about, he offered a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote,

"It must be Thursday, Carrot, I never could get the hang of Thursdays."