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[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira leaned against the wall opposite Amanda and Paige's room. She was dressed in faded blue jeans and a shirt reading "Kiss Me, I'm Bloody Scottish!" emblazoned in green. A pair of sunglasses pushed her hair away from her face and if anyone looked, a determined gaze had settled in her eyes.

She glanced at her watch. "6:59...an' 'ere we go..."

With Paige safely out of the room, this was going to get interesting.

There was no warning. One minute Amanda was blissfully asleep - or rather, semi-passed out, the next minute the room was filled with the most fuck-awful racket that emanated from the alarm clock that she hadn't noticed when she'd stumbled to bed last night. Or this morning - she'd kind of lost track of time. At any rate, she'd not gotten a lot of sleep, and there were bagpipes blaring at her. Bagpipes.

On the face of it, it was probably good that Amanda wasn't able to do magic at that point. She grabbed the clock, threw it at the wall with enough force to dent the plaster (the bagpipe music dwindled to a sad, tinny whine), and then staggered out of bed and threw the door open, where she knew that Scottish harridan would be waiting.

"Good mornin', -sunshine-," Moira greeted loudly, watching in bemusement when Amanda grabbed her head in pain. "Well, dinnae -ye- look chipper an' bushy tailed this fine March mornin', aye?"

She smirked.

"Fuck off an' die, McTaggart," growled Amanda. She was still in the jeans and shirt of the day before and her hair was a badly-dyed haystack.

"Hmmm." Moira took a second to think that one through. "Nay, I don't think I will." She rocked back on her heels and eyed the girl. Moira had spent most of the late hours last night blocking out the hurtful comments, time spent watching Nathan sleep and keeping an eye on him.

"Thought I would leave ye alone, figurin' ye'd sober up on yer own?" She snorted. "Never try ta kid a kidder because ten ta one they've done it before."

"Was worth a try." Amanda eyed Moira suspciously. "So what now? Gunna get yer mate Nathan t' toss me in the lake?"

"One time trick, 'opefully never ta be repeated again." Hopefully. That had not been an enjoyable experience.

"Nay, tha' was jus' me way of tellin' ye tha' I saw right through what ye were tryin' ta do." She paused. "I guess I could 'ave jus' -told- ye but two lessons in one...hangovers aren't any fun. Drinkin' is, what ye do when yer drunk is...nay what comes after." She raised an eyebrow. "An' after tha' comment yesterday, I figured I was due."

She suddenly tossed Amanda a bag that she'd been holding. "But I'm nay goin' ta be a complete bitch. Asprin, orange juice an' sunglasses. Considerin' 'ow I find ye an' what I know, ye'll be needin' those."

Amanda nearly fumbled the catch, but managed to snag the bag. "Yeah, thanks," she said, awkwardly. It was too early in the morning for this shite, but she knew Moira wouldn't give up on her that easy. She was oddly comforted by the thought, but for the most part, it terrified her. Another potential victim of the need curled in her gut like a snake. "Moira..." she halted, unsure of how to put it. "'M not safe, y'know. I don't want t' hurt you, but I might, if it... gets bad enough." She paused, remembering her words of the previous afternoon. "Y'know, more."

"Then we'll ride it out." Her features softened. "I'm old, I'm resilient an' I'll bounce back eventually from most thin's." She sighed. "Jus' let me 'elp ye an' I'll give th' space ye need, as lon' as ye stop drinkin' an' jus' puttin' yerself through 'ell. Ye dinnae deserve tha'."

'It's exactly what I deserve.' Amanda didn't voice the thought, knew it would only lead to more mothering from the good doctor. And she'd had about as much of that as she could take. "'S all right if I have a shower, then? Since I'm up an' all?"

Moira started to make a comment around the lines of "-Please-, ye smell like ye rolled in a lorry of pint" but refrained herself. "Aye, do tha'...there's breakfast set aside fer ye if'n yer interested, nothin' t' fancy which is what ye want right now."

Moira turned to go. "If ye need me I'll either be in me office or Nathan's room."