xp_logs | Amanda, Moira - Sunday morning

Back in the medlab, Moira comes to chat to the latest prison... er patient. Who isn't. Patient, that is. They talk about addiction and cravings, and lay plots for a spot of lizard-smuggling.

With a glance at the clock, Moira realized she really needed a break. There was still a small lingering headache from yesterday's nasty one but that would fade in time and so she didn't even bother with the asprin. Nasty stuff. She frowned and then glanced at the clock again. There really wasn't enough time to go upstairs. But there was time for a visit down to Amanda, who had been more or less awake earlier in the morning. Shrugging off her lab coat, she grabbed her coffee and headed towards the room the young woman was being kept in and knocked on the door. "Amanda, ye awake?"

"Surprisingly, yeah," came the reply. "An' bored out of me skull."

Chuckling slightly, she pushed open the door and closed it behind her. "Considerin' 'ow many o' ye lot get stuck down 'ere for stretches o' time, I think we need ta invest in T.V.s in th' rooms."

"Entertainment? That's a novel concept." Amanda had obviously been spending time with Nate again - her dry tone matched his almost perfectly. "It'd distract me from all this extremely fun lyin' around an' countin' ceiling tiles." She was sitting up, the laptop open and turned on but sitting on the hospital table. "Moira, I'm goin' spare down here. You sure I can't get all this rest in me own bed?"

"'ave ye tried convincin' 'enry?" Moira asked, sitting down across from her. She propped her chin on her hand and grinned. "I jus' look after yer mental 'ealt', lass, I'm nay an MD. 'enry an' Maddie...those are th' ones ta bother. I'll see wha' I can do ta 'elp. Ye feelin' any better?"

"Yeah, a bit. I ain't feelin' so wrecked today. Just bored. A bit twitchy." Amanda hesitated, then reminded herself this was Moira she was talking to. "I can't stop thinkin' 'bout that place in Mexico, the power in it. An' when I think about it, I want it back."

Inside, Moira grimaced slightly. "Tha's th' problem wit' addiction," she said, slowly but there was understanding in her words. "Ye start gettin' it off yer back an' then sometimes jus' a whiff can send ye right back. An' th' stuff in Mexico was a mite larger than' a whiff."

"Just a bit," Amanda agreed ruefully. "But I had to. It was the only way t' beat Rack. But now..." Her foot waggled nervously under the blankets. "Now I want it, instead of need it."

"Well, tha's a step at least. Need is somethin' ye cannae control. Want? It may be 'ard as 'ell t' deny yerself, but ye can control it a whole 'ell o' a lot better than needin' it."

"Well, today it's want. Tomorrow, I dunno." Amanda sighed. "I can't help thinkin' that maybe one of the reasons I didn't wait for help is because I knew there was power there an' I had the perfect excuse t' get it."

Reaching over, Moira patted her on the hand lightly. "Amanda, do ye really think tha'?" She sighed. "Ye know, I dinnae think ye went there for tha'. Ye knew wha' this Rack could do, did, an' like anyone who cares about anyone deeply, ye were afraid for them. 'Tis nay wonder ye darted off like tha'. I was scared an' ye better believe I was spittin' nails when I found out, but I understand."

"I dunno. When it's not botherin' so much, an' I'm thinkin' straight, then no, it weren't for the power. I couldn't have him comin' here, hurtin' people. But then I get these cravin's, an' I start doubtin' meself, second-guessin' everythin'."

Moira nodded slowly. "'onestly, tha's ta be expected. Cravin's tend ta play wit' ye all around, mentally included. 'Tis why th' impluse ta keep goin' back ta whatever ye're 'ooked on is so stron'. Ye feel better while doin' it."

"Well, lucky for me what I'm hooked on ain't so easy t' find. An' I've got Rom's 'patch' here." The crystals on the pendant were glowing faintly as they continued building up her energy levels. "But you might want t' see t' the booze cabinets once I'm up an' about." Her tone was wry, but there was a hint of seriousness to it.

"Already done," Moira replied simply. "As soon as I 'eard wha' 'appened an' put two an' two together, I made sure there was none in easy reach. Worse comes ta worse, I'll put all I can find in Charles' study." She winked at her and smiled.

"That's one risk that ain't worth takin', doin' over the headmaster's office. 'Sepcially when the headmaster is a telepath." Amanda chuckled. "Not for this junkie."

Moira would have to remember to tease Charles about strippers *and* beer next time she saw him. "T' bad we cannae brin' Frank down t' visit ye," she murmured, the idea of Frank in Amanda's room a rather amusing idea. Especially when the other doctors discovered him.

"You sure we can't?" Amanda asked, picking up on Moira's slightly wicked smile. "Poor bugger is probably missin' me."

"Probably doin' whatever lizards do when they're missin' someone...chewin' on toys, scarin' th' locals, tha' sort o' thin'. 'e really needs ye..."

"He does," Amanda agreed, her tone matching Moira's mock-serious one. "An' how am I supposed t' bond with him properly if I can't look after him? I only had him for a couple of days before I left, he won't know me by the time they let me out of here..."

"'e's jus' a wee one at tha', cannae seperate 'im lon' from 'is actual care taker." She nodded seriously. "'e'll go 'round, thinkin' ta find ye. An' wha' 'appens? Poor Alison ends up on top o' 'er desk an' 'e's still jus' a wee lonly lizard lookin' fer 'is mum."

"An' as amusin' as that was, it's not good for him t' be wanderin' 'round the place on his own. Someone might step on him or somethin'..." Amanda grinned. "An' then there'd be the cruelty t' animals people involved, an' all that bad publicity for the school, an' then where would we be?"

"Up th' creek wit'out a paddle an' we cannae be 'avin' *tha'*, now can we? We must protect th' school's image at all cost."

With a serious nod, Amanda added: "'S all for the school. Perfectly unselfish of us."

"'ow can this be selfish? We are savin' th' school from itself after all." The smile Moira was sporting could only be described as devilish.

"So you feel up t' a bit of lizard-smugglin'?"

With a smirk, she nodded her head. "I can certainly try. If'n I cannae get poor, neglected wee Frank in 'ere, there's always me lab. I'll brin' ye down fer a visit."

"Wow, Frank an' a change of scenery. Must be Christmas or somethin'." Amanda chuckled.

"Ye'll get out o' 'ere soon, I promise. But until then...I can 'andle a wee bit o' smugglin', I think." If Moira could look any more gleeful, she'd probably win an award. The prospect of doing something like this that would get her mind off her troubles raised her spirits.

"Yeah, I know. Tho' if I ask Hank 'n Maddy 'bout movin' t' me own room, you'll back me up, right? It'll be good for me mental health an' all, bein' in familiar surroundin's an' such." Amanda ignored the fact the medlab was possibly becoming as familiar as her dorm room.

Moira sat back and took a good look at her. Her coloring was still not up to par but it was much better than it had been. And if she was sitting up and joking around, then she was on her way to mending. She knew that some people thrived better when not in the MedLab and figured it couldn't hurt. "Aye, I'd back ye up. I think 'tis time ye were back in yer own bed."

"Yer a champ, Moira," Amanda said, beaming. "I'll ask 'em this afternoon when they come t' do the poke and prod thing."

She grinned. "I jus' know we'd 'ave ye on th' ceilin' before t' lon' if'n we dinnae let ye go at some point."