xp_logs | Nathan and Moira, Tuesday morning

Nathan and Moira discover that things don't look quite as bad the next morning. The subjects of new careers and silver hair are touched upon.

Sighing slightly, Moira rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. If she looked at her clock, she knew what it would say. 6:09. Ten minutes from the last time she'd checked it. All together, she probably had roped in about 2 hours of sleep last night. Nightmares, unshared thankfully, and feeling generally restless, had kept her up through most of the night.

With a grimace, she slowly sat up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. This was getting her nowhere but while she might have been more productive in the lab...Moira glanced over at Nathan. There was no urge to leave him just yet. Or, lately, at all.

The sound of her shifting on the bed woke him from a restless, troubled doze. For a moment he just laid there, letting himself absorb the solid reality of the bed beneath him, Moira lying beside him. Then he opened his eyes--or tried to, only to squeeze them back closed again with a grunt of pain as even the soft morning light turned the throbbing in his head into a raging, red-edged beast trying to shred his brain.

"Ow," he mumbled.

Turning, she frowned at his expression and moved closer next to him. Not knowing which would hurt his headache more, she opted not to use the link just yet. "Ye okay? Stupid question, I know."

"Not... really," he muttered weakly, not opening his eyes. Didn't need to, anyway. He could feel the way she was looking at him. "Need a new head..."

"Well, I 'appen t' like yers right where it 'tis," Moira murmured, scooting closer until she was pressed up against his side gently. She reached out and ran a hand over his forehead slowly, betting that her slightly cold hands would probably feel good right now.

Nathan let his breath out on a long sigh. "They do," he murmured, hearing the unspoken thought. Guess that meant he hadn't managed to hurt their link any with all of this. He needed to thank Charles for shielding her, he reminded himself. Once he could actually get up.

"I'm fine," Moira said, shaking her head. The link was open a lot more than normal than usual without them trying to reach for it. "Jus' worried 'bout ye."

He tried to chuckle. It wound up sounding rather appalling. "I'll live," he said wearily, and tried to open his eyes again, more slowly this time. It didn't hurt quite as badly, and the sight of her bending over him was worth it. "Next time, though, Charles gets to do it," he tried to joke.

"There'd better nay *be* a next time." There was a tired warning in her voice. "An' aye, yer right, 'tis Charles' turn. Ye get t' sit tha' one out."

Nathan opened his eyes the rest of the way. They watered a little, but not too badly, and it was nice to have her more fully in focus. "You look like hell," he observed, trying to keep the words light.

"O' an' yer jus' such a ray o' sunshine." Moira stuck her tongue out at him and then shrugged. "Eh. This is me lack o' sleep face. I'll be fine, really." She switched hands before the one supporting her collapsed and kept up the light caresses on his forehead.

Nathan smiled a bit wanly, turning his attention inward for a moment. The headache was enough to tell him that he had done some damage, although it wasn't nearly as bad as he had half-expected, after how it had all gone down yesterday. Charles had probably taken a hand.

But he still felt so... drained, so off-balance. And that tearing grief was still there, even if there was a little bit of distance between him and it now - and hell, that might be just the fatigue.

She frowned at the distant look and touched the link hesitantly. Moira didn't send anything down it, not exactly, just a touch. The offer that he could reach back and hold on to her if he needed to steady himself. With a small sigh, she dropped her head on to his shoulder and laid down fully next to him.

"Did I tell you..." He trailed off, staring up at the ceiling. "Before I went down to find Manuel, Charles and I talked. I'm supposed to...decide what I want to do around here." Look forward, not back, he told himself. Distraction was good.

"Nay, ye dinnae." Slowly, she leaned her head back, smiling a little as she felt her hair--longer than it's been since she was a teenager--fall across his shoulder. "Tell me?"

Nathan laughed a little, tiredly. "Didn't get much of a chance to think about it, after... and I'm at a bit of a loss." He would have rolled his eyes, if he hadn't been positive that the gesture would hurt. "Pete's going to be insufferable. Absolutely fucking insufferable."

"Mmm. I'll let 'im 'ave some fun but then I'll threaten t' take away those bloody cigs o' 'is if 'e gets ta be t' annoyin'."

"I love it when you fight my battles for me." He was silent for a long moment, staring at the ceiling as if it had the answers written there. "Can you see me teaching?" he asked tentatively.

Moira paused and thought about it for a good couple of minutes. "Ye know, I really could? Ye've got th' want t' 'elp people, tha's fer bloody certain. This'll be much easier on ye." She paused. "For th' most part." Laughing a little, she moved slightly and bumped her knees into him and winced slightly. Moira knew better than to look at them or her elbows...probably all scratched up and on their way to black and blue thanks to the fall last night.

"Probably be very bad for my blood pressure," he muttered, and tried to turn on his side, to face her. It took far too much effort, and the sick lurching in his head as he moved made him feel more than slightly nauseous. "Ohhh," he whispered, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. "New head... seriously..."

"God, we're bot' a bloody mess, aren't we?" Moira sighed and reached up to kiss him on the cheek gently. "'onestly, we're gettin' t' bloody ol' fer this, Nathan." With a grimace, she tugged at her hair and glared at it. "Really, I'd like ta stay a natural red'ead fer a while longer."

He cracked an eye open. "But your silver ones are so pretty."

"I dinnae 'ave any silver ones!" she growled, indignant.

"Of course not, dear."

"Dinnae make me 'urt ye," she muttered, eyeing him with a slight pout. "Jus' because yer 'air's goin' th' way o' th' great white nort', doesnae mean we're all doin' tha'."

Nathan opened his other eyes, smiling wearily at her. "Go back to sleep," he murmured. "You look like you need it. I'm okay."

Moira groaned and buried her head in his shoulder for a moment. "'Tis Tuesday. I 'ave classes ta teach." Her voice was almost pure "I don't wanna".

"Give them a pop quiz," Nathan suggested. "Share the pain."