Logan/Moira

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira's got the setting on the treadmill up as high as it can go. Sweat is pouring down her back but she's got another ten minutes before she slows the machine down. She was waiting for test results to come back and didn't want to bother Nathan just yet. So, the fall back. Exercise until exhausted and then go back to work. Nathan was going to kill her but this wasn't like she was using her injured shoulder to run.

Logan had time between breakfast and his next session with Sarah, so he heads to the gym to warm up. Half an hour on the Nautilus will be enough, but Sarah definitely requires that he be /ready/ when he trains her. Pushing open the door and heading straight for the machine, he doesn't do more than nod at Moira.

"Logan," she gasped out, eyes on the treadmill in front of her. Level eight was rather tricky, especially considering what she had done to herself the other day, and she didn't relish explaining to Bartlet, Henry and Nathan why she broke something during a simple work-out. Pushing oneself too far was a specialty, she thought.

Logan's head turns toward Moira as he settles himself on the machine. He nudges his legs against the bar and lifts. "Dr MacTaggart," he says, acknowledging that she's spoken.

She glanced over at him and sighed to herself. Why must she always be surrounded by tight lipped men? Conversation had not died out... "How's Marie enjoyin' th' books an' thin's I brought 'er from Lichtenstein?"

"She's...y'know. I dunno. She ain't showed 'em t'me yet. I think." He looked a little surprised, then grinned, remembering that she hadn't really had much /time/ to show him books in the past few days.

"Thin's 'ave been a wee bit crazy o' late." She grinned a little. "Think ye'd smell th' last part o' th' gift 'fore ye saw it. Relaxin' bat' beads an' girly stuff, was wondering if'n th' relaxation an' yoga would 'elp 'er any."

Logan grinned. "She's been pretty relaxed, past coupla days. Don't know if it's th'yoga, though."

Logan's remark just happened to come right when Moira's ankle gave a little and she cursed as she stumbled, hand flying to the emergency brake. She skidded to a stop but not before she managed to bounce the injured shoulder over the side of the tread mill hand holds. She cursed and turned to face Logan with a bemused/pained look. The bruise on her shoulder was glaring now, thanks to the smack it just took. "...well, tha' was embarrasin'...knew I set it t' fast..." She raised an eyebrow at Logan. "...good...she's 'appy an' relaxed..."

He shifted as if to stand and offer his help, the look on his face obvious. He doesn't get further than that, though. "She...yeah. She is." Something in his tone implied that the relaxation and happiness had been a long time coming and that he was more than a little miffed at the events that had prevented it in the past.

"She's doin' better," Moira said, rubbing her shoulder. "An' I'm glad she's 'appy. Deserves it an' she'll 'ave quite th' lot o' pissed off people if'n someone takes tha' away again. Considerin' she threatened ta send home anyone in a body ba' tha' happened ta mess wit' meself, th' feelin' is mutual."

A smirk danced across Logan's lips. /That/ was His Girl. "She means it, y'know. Takes after me, that way. She don't make idle threats an' she don't break her promises if she c'n help it."

"So I've noticed. She gets up even after a 'ard fall..." Moira laughed suddenly at a memory. "Includin' discoverin' action an' reaction while attemptin' ta shoot a huntin' rifle while flyin'..."

Logan chuckled. "Sounds like her. We were sparrin' in the Danger Room coupla weeks ago. I hit 'er when she was flyin' and she hit th'wall onna other side of th'room. Looked pretty damned surprised about it, too."

"'asna -quite- gotten tha' part down, but she will. Been meanin' ta go out shootin' wit' 'er but...currently, I dinnae think Nathan's lettin' me near me weapons." She glanced ruefully at her shoulder. "Bloody shame tha'."

"Y'seen a doctor 'bout that?" Logan asked, grinning and gesturing toward her shoulder.

She gave him a dry look. "What am I, chopped liver? Aye, 'enry threatened ta take me coffee pot away an' Nathan threatened ta throw me in th' lake...again..." Moira sighed. "I'm used ta bein' th' only stubborn one around..."

Logan laughed. "There's a lotta stubborn people here. Kinda comes with th'territory, I think."

"Don't I know it. An' because every once else is stubborn, I find meself becomin' twice as 'ornery." She smirked a little. "Every find yerself doin' tha' or am I jus' th' only one?"

"You're not th'only one. Don't hafta do it much, myself, though. Most people here either hate me or are afraid of me. One good scowl usually sends th'second group runnin' an' the first group avoids me anyhow."

"...odd, I seem ta 'ave tha' affect as well." She smiled. "Well, ye -can- be intimidatin', I'll give ye tha'...but Marie's 'appy an' I trust 'er judgement. She's nay stupid tha' one. I may not agree wit' some thin's tha' 'appen...but, ye know, th' day I agree wit' anyone, 100% is th' day tha' he..." She paused, frowning. "I'm goin' ta stop usin' that sayin' now...t' many weird thin's 'appenin'..."

His eyes hardened a bit at the mention of 'some things that happen', but his lips twitched at her last comment. "You're in a house full of freaks, lady. 'Course weird things're happenin'."

Moira noticed the glint but ignored it. She had her personal morals, he had his and in this conversation, they had nothing to do with that particular bomb shell. "Nothin' like this ever 'appened at Muir. Nice, calm, sedated...love this place ta deat' but 'tis a mad house."

"It's all th'kids," Logan hypothesised. "Hormones'n thinkin' they know everythin'." He'd learned a lot about teenagers in the past year and a half.

"Mmm, true...most o' th' people at Muir were either older or much, much younger." She shook her head. "Miss it in a way but 'tis nice nay havin' ta run somethin' wit' limited staff. An' 'tis much more interestin' over 'ere."

"Interestin'. Yeah, a'right." He nodded. "Not th'word I'd use, but yeah." Not interesting. Crazy. Hectic. Frustrating. Unwelcoming. But it was where Marie needed to be.

"Ye get used ta it or so I'm told." She sat on the edge of the treadmill with a groan. "Learnin' experience, as scary as it can be," she muttered to herself.

"Some of th'learnin' experiences I've had here, I coulda done without," he answered honestly. Like how it felt to lose Marie. Or how it felt to be hated for what he was, even among people /like him/. Or how it felt to be tied to a place where he wasn't welcome. "But some of 'em...some of 'em've been worth it."

"Some, aye, an' some I'll look back an' realized it was good tha' I learned 'em." She glanced at him. "'Tis 'ard, really, bein' 'uman amon' all this...good thin' I am a stubborn bitch, aye?"

Logan grinned his agreement. "Yeah. Comes in handy, don't it?"

"Aye, tha' it does." She sighed. "Need ta put it on me resume...'can do research in under 10 minutes. Also 'as balls o' steel"."

"Place like this," Logan remarked, "you'd get th'job in no time. Gotta be able t'stand up t'th'monsters when they growl at you, y'know." He shrugged good-naturedly, or as good-natured as he got, really. "Not all of 'em are me, but most of 'em've been through some tough shit an' they got attitudes t'prove it. Y'need the balls t'get y'through."

"Aye, tha' ye..." And for the second time in many days, Moira's screech echoed off the wall as her beeper suddenly went off in her pocket. She slipped to the ground, landing rather solidly on her butt and cursing the entire way. "...me experiments are done..." she said weakly.

Logan snorted and pushed himself to his feet. "Little skittish, huh?" He offered her a hand up.

She grabbed the offered hand and hauled herself up. "Ye would be ta if vibrations kept goin' off in -yer- pocket..."

He glanced at her pocket and up at her face, smirking. "Uh huh." Waving a hand at the door and settling himself on the Nautilus again, he said, "Go on. Th'labs're callin'."

She shook her head and laughed as she headed out. "Try it sometime...ye never know..."