Cain, Moira, Nathan and Alison at Harry's, Saturday night

[x-cable.livejournal.com]

Backdated to Saturday night.



Cain returned to his table, balancing a tray of drinks on one huge forearm.

"Let's see," he began, "that's one Michelob for myself. One root beer," he raised an eyebrow, "for the doc. One pink rainbow melon starbust with an umbrella for our window-wrecking mystery man," he set the brightly-colored drink in front of Nathan, "and for Miss Blaire, Harry's own special gin and tonic mix." Placing the drinks on the table, Cain slid into the booth. "Cheers."

Moira eyed Nathan's drink with a wrinkled nose. "What th' bloody 'ell is tha'?"

"Very colorful?" Nathan observed, eyeing Cain warily.

"Don't worry," Cain insisted, "it'll still knock you on your ass. Don't let the looks fool you." Nathan muttered to himself, removing the umbrella and picking up the glass.

"I dinnae think 'e needs any 'elp bein' knocked on 'is ass," Moira muttered, sipping her root beer. Luckily, the smell of the drinks wasn't too strong.

Snickering at Moira's comment, Alison picked up her gin and tonic and took a swallow, leaning back in her seat after with a small sigh. "Oooh? Meaning what exactly, Moira?" she asked innocently enough.

The root beer halted halfway to Moira's mouth and she eyed Alison. "...visions?"

"Can we please not make fun of the narcoleptic guy?" Nathan grumbled, sipping at the fluorescent drink. It was overly sweet, but respectably alcoholic. And he supposed he ought to be a good sport about the drink, at least.

Cain laughed, wiping a foam mustache from his upper lip. "Hey, from the guy who slept completely through the disco era and the Me Generation, you get off LIGHT."

"Tell me ye dinnae miss out on Ziggy Stardust at least?" Moira looked horrified.

Cain glared briefly over his mug, muttering "Thankfully" into his beer.

"Well, we'll have to fix that!" Alison grinned, taking a sip of her gin and tonic.

"Neanderthal," Moira muttered, with a sniff.

Cain shook his head. "Ain't my thing, all those weirdos in the makeup. Gimme some Allman, some CCR. You know what shock is?" he asked, setting down his mug. "Try coming out of a coma to the news that the Doobie Brothers broke up. That's trauma."

Thankful for the fact that she wasn't in mid swallow, because gin and tonic up one's nose was bad, Alison laughed cheerfully. "Ah, but you haven't heard my Ziggy Stardust," she winked.

"I'd give me left ar..." Moira paused. "I'd give -Cain's- left arm ta 'ear tha'."

Cain arched an eyebrow, glad for the shift in interest. "Don't remember any Bowie covers on your stuff, Ali."

"There's a lot of stuff I cover that wasn't laid down to track," Alison shrugged, smiling a bit. "Course, that might change now." And the smile widened, hinting at smugness even, no less. "I'm starting my own record label," were her next works, followed by bubbling laughter, Alison looking as though the world had just been handed to her on a plate - even though she was the one heading off to take over the world, as far as she was concerned.

Cain paused in his gesture for another beer. "You're kidding, right?" At Alison's shake of refusal, Cain whistles. "Holy shit, that's great. That's just..." he raised his empty glass. "Congratulations."

"Good luck with it," Nathan said a bit vaguely, staring into the depths of his glass. He hadn't realized who Alison was the first time they'd met - he didn't pay a lot of attention to popular culture - and he wasn't sure of what to make of someone who was such a public figure. His whole life had been about staying at the other end of that spectrum.

"Ali, tha's wonderful." Moira beamed at the other woman, then discreetly poked Nathan in the knee under the table. #If'n ye 'ave any more after tha' drink after what 'appened today, I'll be usin' yer insides ta play jump rope wit',# she sent, cheerfully.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," Nathan said aloud, and then blinked at the strange looks he was getting from Alison and Cain. "What?"

Cain glanced back and forth between Moira and Nathan. "You're doing one of those freaky telepath things, ain't you?" As Moira blushed slightly, Cain slapped his hand against the table and laughed loudly. "Hot damn! That little French girl had it nailed in one!"

Alison joined the laughter, giving Moira an impish look. "Well, the whole hand on knee thing earlier was a dead giveaway too," she pointed out, an unrepetant gleam in her eyes for dropping that tid bit of information.

"You're all too interested in things like that," Nathan grumbled and took another sip of the drink, ignoring the way Moira's eyes flashed. It was going straight to his head and he rather liked the feeling. It would be nice to be light-headed for an honest reason. "You need to get out more."

"Aye, they do," Moira muttered, eyeing Cain. "Ye sure ye dinnae 'ave any soft spots?" She tried to force away the blush. "If'n I didnae drink, I'd need one soon wit' ye lot." #Yer enjoyin' this.# she sent to Nathan. She had to admit, she didn't want to -deny- anything.

"Other than my head for sticking around this nuthouse," Cain said with a smile. "I blame it on being eligible for the seniors discount this year." At the quick blinks from across the table, Cain sighed and leaned back, spreading his hands. "Yeah yeah. The big six-four last week. And Harry STILL won't gimme a break!" he hollered, answered with a derisive yell from the bartender. Shaking his head, Cain laced his fingers on the table, looking back and forth from Moira to Nathan. "So, you two kids...?"

#I may be,# Nathan thought at Moira somewhat whimsically, and then turned his attention to Cain. "She puts up with my sorry carcass showing up on her doorstep at inopportune moments. I try not to be too much of a bastard. We have our moments..."

"Oh, is that what you older people call it then?" Alison murmured innocently enough, raising an eyebrow at him, grinning a bit, while making a mental note that it had been Cain's birthday the past week. Looks like I'll be recording a few originals sooner than I thought.

#Tha's okay...so am I...# Moira sent back. "'e makes me eat." She shrugged and took another drink of her root beer. From the look Alison was giving her, she'd be grilled for details later. Well...she wouldn't mind. "An' speakin' o' birthdays, Cain..." A few seconds ticked away as Moira rooted around in her coat jacket. She tossed something at Cain. "There ye go."

Cain caught the package, turning the brown-paper-covered box over in his hands. "As long as it ain't gonna sing, explode, or turn me different colors..." he murmured, ripping at the paper like a child. As fragments of the box dropped to the floor, Cain held a brightly-colored lump of knitted fabric in his hands.

"It's a hat." Moira offered, seeing Cain's confusion.

Slowly, Cain placed the orange-and-red cap on his head, fiddling with the dangling yarn ties hanging below his chin. "Hm." He said. "'s'comfy."

Nathan gazed at Cain for a moment, and then looked at Moira. "Do you two have some sort of competition going on? 'Let's see who can buy who the silliest-looking gift' or something?"

Moira stiffled a giggle. "Man walks inta th' mansion wearin' a 'at like tha', 'e isna afraid o' anyone." She patted Nate on the knee. "'e got me a rock, its nay silly."

Alison pouted, reaching up to prod the knitted hat lightly. "Gee Nathan, what makes you say that?" she said, before wrinkling her nose. "I think Cain pulls it off just fine." Lips quirking, because hello, no one was about to start annoying Cain about that hat now - well, not amongst the general populace, at least.

Cain grinned toothily under the hat. "I like it," he said with a degree of finality. "Besides, it's a stitch more comfortable than the LAST thing she made me wear." Cain grinned at Moira, making the reference to the magic-blocking shield he still wore out of habit under his shirt. Noticing her empty mug of root beer, he snorted. "Get you something else from the kids' menu, doc?"

"Nay, another root beer will be fine," she responded, dryly, feeling Nate tense a little bit beside her. She also saw Alison shake her head at Cain but he didn't catch it.

Nathan gave Cain a slightly frosty look, not liking the joke, but decided to refrain. "Sorry I wasn't able to help you with that window today," he said instead. "Lost a few hours there, again..."

"Don't worry about it," Cain waved dismissively. "ain't the biggest thing this week. One teacher going nuts, one kid trying to burn holes in my carpet, one kid thrown in the penalty box for slipping mental roofies to the girls to get him a piece - I tell you, I'm about ready to take anyone over the age of thirteen and dump 'em all in the lake."

There was a gleam in Alison's eyes that was anything but pleasant as she stared down at her gin, a few thoughts of cheerful mayhem and destruction flitting through her mind in regards to several of the events at the mansion of late. "Yeah, but then they'd just do something nasty to the poor fishies," she muttered instead, with a half-hearted smile.

The thank you Moira sent to Nate was brief but relieved. "Aye, cannae 'ave tha'. I like th' fishies. Never 'armed anyone, they 'aven't." She leaned back, relaxing. This made her miss her uncle's pub back home. Moira smiled.

"Here's to the fish," Nathan said, raising his glass in salute and then tossing some more of the drink back. "Cain," he said, a bit unsteadily, "you have great taste in fruity drinks."

"Hell," the big man replied, "order 'em myself sometimes when the place's empty." Twirling his empty mug on the table, his brain switched back and forth between comments, none of them likely safe. Finally, he swept his cap off his head and sighed loudly. "If I could still have a heart attack, these kids'd give me one." After a brief pause, he slammed his empty mug on the table and belched into his fist. "Hell with 'em. Who's got next round?"

Moira poked Nathan in the ribs and sighed. "Nay more for -ye- tonight." She eyed Cain. "Tha' was...gross. Verra gross. But, what th' 'ell, I'm buyin'." #An' I'm 'avin' 'arry brin' 'em back, no worries,# she added to Nathan. #Dinnae want ta be tha' close ta th' drink tonight.#

Watching Moira walk away, Cain let out a breath he'd been holding and leaned over the table. His eyes met Nathan's for a moment and locked. Instinctively, he ran a hand to his chest, ensuring that his shield was in place before he spoke to the telepath.

"This oughta go without saying, so being the designated tactless jackass, I'm gonna say it." He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a gruff whisper. "If she goes through any more shit because of what you've got in her head, or anything else you bring on her..." He looked over at Alison, who was slowly nodding.

With a disarming smile, the blonde nodded calmly. "Bad Things will ensue." She blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Well, after much ass kicking of the whatever might be bad stuff happens, that is." She paused, then winced. "Cain, did I just ruin the whole 'concerned people threaten the new boyfriend' thing?"

Marko shook his head. "Sounds good to me." He looked back at Nathan. "We five-by-five on this?" he asked, lapsing into military slang unconsciously.

Nathan counted to five, before he did anything else. It was good that there were other people here that cared about Moira, he told himself firmly. And he would be something of a hypocrite if he snarled at anyone else for being protective of her. "We're clear," he said evenly.

"...do I even want ta know what I missed?" Moira asked, sliding back in next to Nate. "Ye look like somethin' just skittered 'cross th' table an' yer nay sure who ta blame. Drinks'll be 'ere in a second, 'arry's bringin' em."

"Just guy talk, Doc." Cain looked over at Nathan, who just nodded. "So," he asked of the table at large. "Kids out of the country, or off visiting parents - Lee ain't gonna have that security system up until Thursday. What in the wide world are we going to do with a week of peace and quiet?"

Cain earned himself a vaguely indignant look at the 'guy talk' comment from Alison, but she subsided, not willing to get yelled at by Moira for being overprotective - which they hadn't been, of course. Much. "I'll be flying out to see Miles and Marie, and go to the Aquarium," she volunteered, leaving out the part where she'd be hovering over Betsy and Lorna for the rest of the time. And sleeping a lot. And maybe planning a weekend road trip soon, as well.

"I'm going to try to avoid breaking things and talking to strange angry women from the future," Nathan said, and then blinked at his drink. There wasn't very much left in the glass. Was it spontaneously evaporating on him? "And, um, help Moira file stuff."

Moira grumbled at the mention of that woman from the future but she quieted when she slipped her hand into Nate's. "Aye, yer good wit' th' filin'. I'll jus' be doin' th' same, I guess...less emotional break downs an' throwin' up," she finished dryly, glad the smell of the various drinks weren't getting to her tonight.

Distracted slightly by Moira and Nathan's clasped hands, Cain paid only cursory attention to the drinks brought to the table, save that Moira was again drinking a cola. He opened his mouth to comment, when he saw her nose wrinkle as Alison's drink was passed by her. Although he was no Sherlock Holmes, Cain was not a stupid man. Things started falling together in his mind. The neatly deflected offers for drinks after work, Moira's reluctance to talk about the years following Kevin's death and her divorce - and her obvious distaste for alcohol.

"I," he announced, "am an ass."

Alison, who had been glancing at Moira now and then if only to make sure to do, well, something if the drinks' presence seemed to be getting to her, glanced at Cain, puzzled. "Huh?" she remarked intelligently, wondering what he was going on about exactly.

Cain stammered, then looked at everyone's drinks, then pointedly at Moira's. "You need to get out of here?" he asked, concern showing on his face. "I mean, if this is bothering you - shit, I didn't know. I'm sorry." The apology coming from Cain was like watermelons falling from the clear blue sky.

Laughing, Moira reached over and squeezed Cain's hand. "I appreciate th' concern an', 'onestly, a few days ago, I wouldna been able ta stomach it. None o' ye are drinkin' anythin' particularly stron' or a lot o' it, I'm fine." She smiled. "This place reminds me o' me Uncle Billy's place at 'ome, so it's relaxin'."

Nathan noticed that she'd ordered a cola from him, but decided not to argue, given the turn the conversation had taken. She'd probably had a point about how bad an idea alcohol would be for him at the moment. The one drink he'd had already had certainly gone to his head. "Your uncle's a good sort," he said to Moira, noticing she was still holding his hand.

"Aye, 'e is." She sounded wistful. "Good memories from 'is pub. Nay countin' -those- memories." She shook her head. "Mum's brother. We'd go there every Friday an' I'd fall asleep under th' table watchin' me mum an' da dance wit' each other. Everyone got a kick out o' th' quiet Lord Kinross dancin' like a fool in th' bar..." She blinked, embarrased. "Sorry, I dinnae usually talk 'bout them..."

"And speaking of dancing," Cain interjected, noting that the conversation had been hijacked more often than he could count, "how did you and Big Blue and my debonair brother do at that science geek shindig the other night? Hear you danced up a storm."

Alison leaned forward to listen intently, because if nothing else, she wanted to hear that not only Hank had gone out, but he'd had a good time as well. Something he wasn't doing enough of as far as Alison was concerned, since he'd undergone his physical changes and a certain bitch reporter had dumped him. Again.

Moira grinned. "Aye, 'tis a lot o' fun. An', aye, Cain, nearly danced me feet off. Got me mum's ability ta dance, tha' I did." Her eyes twinkled. "'enry can bloody well -dance-. Never knew 'e 'ad it in 'im." It was unavoidable. Amusing as well. "An' so could Dr. Pym, even if 'e was a wee bit...dinnae know th' right word fer it...eager?

Nathan growled under his breath. "This Dr. Pym sounds like he needs his manners adjusted."

Cain glanced at Moira, then to Nathan and back. With a smirk, he turned to Alison. "And I'd ask how YOUR last dancing date went, but apparently it went well enough for me to be offered a job." At the sudden inquisitive stares, Cain related his conversation with Sebastian Shaw, and his somewhat unorthodox method of refusal. "Glad to see," he mentioned afterwards, as he drained the last of his beer, "Shinobi ain't like his old man, that's for sure. There's one kid who seems to have his head on straight. Precious few round here."

Nathan shook his head. "Glad I gave him that information, then," he said, and got quizzical looks from the other three. "Shinobi's father screwed me over but good a few years back," he said helpfully. "I dug up some dirt. Hadn't had the chance to put it to use yet, so I gave it to him."

"Might someone inquire as to what kind of dirt we're talking about?" Alison asked idly, a neutral expression on her face, remembering only too well a talk she'd had with Shinobi a while ago - and the determination she still had in regards to ensuring Shaw senior never go near Miles.

"Some information on his father's operations," Nathan said, somewhat hazily aware that this might not have been such a good topic of conversation, judging by what Alison was projecting. "If you're going to take your overbearing, psychopathic daddy on, the more you know about what daddy's been up to, the better."

"Getting off the subject of fathers," Cain interrupted, "I had a talk with Shaw Junior the other day. Doesn't look like his dad's gonna be a problem." Cain drained the last of his beer, then leaned back in the booth. "You know," he said, looking at Moira and Nathan, "how you two plan on putting up with all the rumors these kids are gonna be spreading, I'll never know."

"I figure that if we put our heads together," Nathan said, increasingly aware that he'd drunk that fruity concoction just a little bit too quickly, "Moira and I can make one somewhat patient person. I don't think there'll be the need for any bloodshed."

"Perhaps...usually when one o' is is asleep. Patience? Us?" Moira squeezed his hand. "Considerin' I broke me phone th' other day, I dinnae buy tha' fer a moment."

"Well, so long as one of you handles the broom properly then," Alison said serenely, taking the last sip of her drink and letting whoever might want to interpret the comment in certain ways do so if they wished.

Cain furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of Alison's statement, and only coming up with horribly inappropriate mental imagery. Grimacing and shaking his head violently, he stared down at his empty glass, then up at the clock. "Holy shit," he blurted, "Harry, dammit! You snuck last call past us again!"

"I called it thirty minutes ago, you jackass!" the wheezy tenor of the bartender called back.

Cain turned back to his three companions and shrugged. "Anyone wants anything from the bar, they'd better grab it now. I got the tab."

"No, I'm good," Nathan muttered, wondering if anyone would notice if he put his head down on the table. Moira was giving him one of those worried sideways looks again. "Don't know what happened to my alcohol tolerance--" he complained a bit petulantly.

Moira nudged him in the ribs and blinked. "I ate it." She glanced at Cain. "'e's actin' like one o' those bloody weeble wobbles...I think 'tis time we went 'ome, perhaps?" She rubbed her eyes. "Fallin' asleep meself, actually."

Alison grinned, eyeing Nathan's less than steady posture with amusement. "I'm good," she pushed her glass away, and leaned back in the chair. "Sides, looks like some of us will have to be helping out others getting back to the mansion, mmm?"

Cain ambled over to the bar, wallet in hand. After some hushed discussion with Harry, Cain simply handed over a palmful of folded bills and called it even. As Harry went around the bar turning out the lights, Cain held the front door open for everyone, grinning as they supported each other walking out into the 2 am damp.

Comments

[xp_daytripper]

*OOC squealing about the Firefly joke* Eee!

Lots of fun, you lot.

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Adds to the OOC squealing about the Firefly joke.

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

I've been waiting -weeks- to do that line!

*grin*

...

[x-tarot.livejournal.com]

That joke is -all- the better considering the character and player.

Re: ...

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

I know!

*was squeeing madly the entire time* :D

[x-skin.livejournal.com]

Wah! I only have British terrestrial TV, so I haven't seen Firefly yet. Explain?

[x-cypher.livejournal.com]

*does _more_ OOC squealing about the Firefly joke*

[xp_daytripper]

The bit about the hat. Including the line "man wears a hat like that, it shows he ain't afraid of anything".

I got addicted to Firefly when I was in Canada at New Years - I now own the DVDs. It's shinygritty space crack.