xp_logs | Hank, Amanda, Tuesday Morning

(Backdated to Tuesday morning) Amanda comes to the Medlab in search of treatment, and is a bit disconcerted to find Hank the only one there. Although they still have absolutely nothing in common, they manage to be polite to each other, and Hank tries to keep the fussing to a minimum.

It was a stiffly-moving witch who made her way down to the medlab the
next day after the emergency kidnapping. The mood Manuel had been in,
the need to let go and express all his frustrations and fears and
anger... it had made for things getting fairly rough. And being a good
little girl these days, she wasn't going to use magic on the grazes
and bruises she'd picked up from a certain wall in a certain alley -
she just hoped Jean wasn't on duty. The last thing she wanted was a
telepathic doctor picking up exactly _how_ she'd gotten so scraped up
on her back.

Or, the next-to-last thing, she amended as she came into the exam room
and saw a familiar furry blue shape bent over some equipment. The last
thing she wanted was a mother hen doctor who would ask all sorts of
awkward questions. For a second Amanda nearly fled then and there, but
the twinge as her shirt rubbed the raw patches on her shoulderblades
reminded her she at least needed some antiseptic, and she really
didn't want to have to get someone else to apply it. Certainly not
Manuel, since he'd probably get the guilts if he saw the damage she'd
let him do.

"Um, got a sec, doc?" she made herself ask casually. "Got a patient for
you."

Hank looked up, and smiled. "Of course. I always have time for
patients." She looked tense, and he sighed inwardly - he did wish he
got along better with Amanda, for Moira's sake if nothing else, but
they had absolutely nothing in common, and it wasn't easy to get on
with someone whose points of reference were so utterly different from
your own. "Billy's fast asleep, for now, so I am entirely at your
service." He indicated the baby capsule - the handle made it easy to
carry around, and he'd popped Billy into it when he dozed off so he
could take a break from the sling.

Amanda glanced at the capsule politely, but without much interest.
Meggan aside, babies weren't really her thing, and she personally was
tired of Dani's whining about how difficult babies were. "I scraped me
back an' elbows up a bit last night," she said without further
preamble, hopping up on the exam table. "They probably need cleanin'
out a' some antiseptic, only I can't reach it." Keep things nice and
simple, that was the idea. And hope to God he didn't ask too many
questions.

"Of course." Hank nodded, reaching for the cotton swabs and
antiseptic. "If you would remove your shirt?" He moved around behind
her as he asked... he'd seen plenty of bare skin, of course, in his
time, but it generally made the female students more comfortable. "Is
it just your back?"

Amanda carefully pulled her shirt off, and shook her head. "The rest's
just bruises - nothin' t' worry about," she said, holding her shirt
over her front more for warmth than from modesty - it was cold in the
medlab, as usual. She'd come a long way, but she still twitched
slightly as Hank touched the scarred skin of her back; all this time
and she still wasn't used to it being touched. Well, by anyone who
wasn't Manuel. "I wouldn't've bothered, only the wall wasn't the
cleanest an' 's hard t' take care of this sort of thing yerself."

Hank's lips tightened, as he took in the positions and patterns of the
scrapes. It was obvious how the scrapes had been inflicted, and they
were deep and ragged, worse than those he'd seen before. She'd
probably left visible blood-spots on the wall, although they might not
have been noticeable in the dark. "I'd like to put some ointment on
the bruises, too, but you can probably handle that part yourself," he
observed, dabbing gently at the first of the big scrapes with the
cotton. "Have you showered since the scrapes were incurred?"

"First thing after we got back," Amanda replied, hissing a little at
the sting of the antiseptic. "Meg hates the smell of smoke, an' the
clubs we were at were pretty bad for that." She didn't voice the
thought that she wasn't _that_ much of a filthy slut, to not shower.

"That explains why there's so little dirt in the grazes, then. Good.
The best thing for scrapes is to wash them out at once." He dabbed
carefully, trying to keep the cotton from catching. "Meggan is picky
when it comes to smells, isn't she? I'm told her face the first time
she encountered a dill pickle was a sight to behold." He was careful
to stay gentle, and he shifted around just slightly, enough that he
wasn't directly behind her and she could see him out of the corner of
her eye or if she turned her head. He was pretty sure she was one of
the several people at the school who didn't like having someone
directly behind them and unwatchable.

"Moira's told me often enough 'bout keepin' things clean down here, so
yeah, figured it would help." Amanda tried not to squirm too much as
Hank did his job, even though the swab was cold against her skin. "An'
yeah; Meggan's got a pretty good nose. We think it's t' do with the
shapeshiftin' - Jake explained it a bit. Well, when he wasn't
hyperventilatin' at the thought of maybe helpin' t' teach her."
Despite herself Amanda snickered. "She was shirty at me for takin' off
like I did last night, tho' - it was hard t' explain that I had t' get
Manuel out of here t' let off some steam before he said somethin' even
more stupid."

"I'm not surprised... she's still very young, in some ways, and young
children tend to be a little possessive. She'll get used to the idea
you have to go away sometimes... eventually. Probably not without a
lot of fussing, though." Hank smiled a little. "You're doing very well
with her, so far... she seems to be advancing at a very impressive
speed. Lean forward a little, please," he added, having worked his way
down to the scrapes on her hips, that ran down a little into the back
of her jeans.

"She doesn't like Manuel much either, which don't help none." Amanda
did as she was instructed, this time flinching a little - being as
skinny as she was sometimes wasn't a good thing, as the bruises over
the more bony parts of her physique attested. "An' I've got a lot of
people helpin' out - wouldn't say it's much down t' me at all. Meg's a
bright spark, an' she likes people most of the time - makes a lot of
difference."

"I think you do yourself too little credit... and I'm not surprised
she doesn't like Manuel." That had come out a shade more disapproving
than he'd meant it to, and he hurried on. "It's normal for children to
resent their primary carer's relationships with others, especially
others who they don't get along with. She'll grow out of it, in
time... just now, she's too young to appreciate the need to share your
love and attention."

Amanda stiffened slightly, even though it wasn't a new thing, someone
expressing their dislike of her boyfriend. "Well, she's just gunna
have t' learn, t' share that is. Manuel needs me just as much as she
does sometimes, an' he an' I don't have a whole bunch of people
willin' t' take up the slack when I can't be there." It was probably
harsher than she'd meant it, but she was more angry for Manuel's sake
than resentful of Meggan. "He needed me last night, needed
this..." And here she shrugged her shoulders to indicate her
back. "An' sometimes I'm the only one who seems t' understand that."

Hank sighed. "Amanda... given my own romantic history, I'm certainly
in no position to comment on anyone's romantic choices," he said
gently. "And even if I were, you and I are not on such terms as to
make it appropriate. I do know, from the experience of friends if not
my own, that every single parent has to make some comprormises when it
comes to dating, on both sides. It's not easy, but Meggan will grow
out of it if you give her some time, and it won't do her any harm to
have to learn to share. Quite the opposite, actually." He dabbed
gently at the last of the scrapes. "But I know you have little
experience with very young children, so... well. The possessive stage
is normal, and you needn't worry too much. It works itself out."

"I've been makin' fuckin' compromises. Used t' be I spent every
night with Manuel, now he's lucky if he sees me one a week in daylight
hours." Amanda pulled away from Hank's hands and began yanking her
t-shirt back over her head. "An' Meg's not the problem here. Like I
said, I've got stacks of people able an' willin' t' see to her when I
need help. Manny? He's got me. An' the Prof t' smack him into line
when he needs it. I love Meg, an' I'm doin' my best by her, puttin'
her first, but I won't dump Manuel by the wayside neither."

Hank sighed. "Amanda... I'm sorry. I know there's nothing much I can
do to help, and that I'm not necessarily someone you'd want helping
anyway." He put the supplies away, while she pulled on her shirt,
discarding the used cotton. "Please come down and get those
disinfected again tomorrow, and be careful when towelling off and so
forth... scabs do pull off easily when they're wet." Perhaps he
should have left it there, but.. well. He couldn't help worrying,
being a fusspot seemed to be in his nature. "And... Amanda? Please, be
careful?" He met her eyes squarely. "Although your sex life is none of
my business, I'd hate to see you with a damaged spine or dislocated
hip because things got... overenthusiastic... in the wrong place or
position. Flat surfaces are safest, and beds are a distinct
improvement over walls." He wasn't going to say a word about Manuel's
apparent enjoyment of hurting people, even those he claimed to love...
but Amanda wasn't really very good on the 'not getting hurt' thing,
and if he didn't at least warn her, and she did get broken bones or
worse, he'd never forgive himself.

"Sometimes you take it whenever an' wherever you can get it, don't
you?" Amanda replied, but she acknowledged Hank's worry with a
slightly less harsh tone than she might have used. "I'll be careful,
Doc. I might like it rough, but if I get hurt, 's gunna be a bugger t'
explain t' Meg how. She's got enough wrong ideas 'bout sex from those
bastards that had her." She straightened her shirt - carefully - and
gave him a curt nod. "Thanks, Doc. I'll be back down tomorrow."

Hank nodded. "I'll be here in the morning. And, of course, I won't
speak of this to anyone." He smiled a little. "And I can probably lay
my hands on a copy of 'Where Did I Come From' if Meggan starts asking
awkward questions. There are cute little cartoon-pictures."

She blinked, realising it was another of those
references she didn't get. "They have books for
everythin', don't they?" she asked rhetorically,
refusing to think of how she'd learned about sex.
McCoy hadn't meant anything but good. "Maybe. I seem
t' be doin' all right with straight talkin' so far,
but if I get stuck, I'll know where t' come." She
glanced over at Billy involuntarially. "An' I'll be
teachin' her 'bout bein' careful, no matter what yer
circumstances are."

"Pretty much everything, yes. The sperm with the little top hat is a
little strange, but it certainly does take the 'threatening' out of
the idea." Hank smiled again. "And being careful is good too. In all
sorts of ways." He glanced fondly at his son. "Although being a parent
can be delightful when you're ready for it, it can be an utter
nightmare when you're not, or so I'm told."

"Yeah, well, Dani's all about the tellin' us just how
bad it is," Amanda said with a shrug. It was catty,
but the girl irritated her with the whining and
holier-than-thou attitude over simple things like ice
cream silliness. "I should let you get back to it - no
doubt you've got some cluckin' over the baby time t'
catch up on." The words were said without malice, just
an amused sort of wryness. Big blue mother hen, that
was Hank. "Thanks again, Doc. I'll see meself out."

"I'm not that bad!" Hank protested, grinning sheepishly. "Really, I'm
not... uh... well, not all the time. I do talk to him a lot, though -
it helps babies to build neural connections." He rummaged out two
lollipops and offered them to her. "One each for you and Meggan?
Should help to explain the medlab-smell and the antiseptic ditto."

She snorted a little, but she took the lollipops.
"Ta," was all she said, before stuffing them in the
front pocket of her jeans and giving him a short
little wave as she left.