Nathan and Moira - Santorini, day two

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Nathan and Moira go shopping in Fira, then return to the hotel to make the appropriate use of the honeymoon suite. Nathan senses something troubling on the link, and when he presses, Moira confesses some things about her past that have continued to bother her. He does his level best to reassure her that he is entirely too entranced by the woman she is to be bothered by any of her youthful shenanigans (and manages to refrain from offering to off her ex-husband one more time).



Moira bent slightly, pushing her sunglasses up not only so she could peer at the jewelry below her better, but it also helped keep her hair from tumbling down into her eyes. The pieces that were presented at the little store were unusual but, she mused smiling down at the ring on her right hand, she tended to enjoy the jewelry that wasn't the 'cookie cutter'-type. A little unusual suited her fine. Currently she was looking for a pair of earrings to go with a dress she'd bought for this trip. Normally if she worked in the lab, which she did almost every day, she didn't wear earrings, mainly to keep them from being caught.

But with her and Nathan on vacation, away from labs and school, a little jewelry that served no purpose but to look pretty might be in order.

"These are gorgeous," Nathan said, coming up beside her and handing her the package from the bookstore with an apologetic little grimace. She merely smiled at him and slipped it into her bag, but it still wasn't right, he reflected huffily. He was the one that was supposed to be the beast of burden while they were shopping. "Very authentic, too. The designer must have some background in archaeology."

She beamed up at him and then nodded to the man behind the counter. "Aye, I'll take these." He smiled at her and shuffled around as she reached into her purse to dig out her wallet. "Lord, 'tis a good thin' we're bot' well off," Moira muttered, taking in the good amount of bags around her feet. "An' we 'avenae really started buyin' thin's ta take back for some o' th' kids..."

"Some serious spoiling to do, yes," Nathan said, discreetly supporting some of the weight of the bags telekinetically as Moira started to pick them up. "Why don't we stop and get a drink or something? Then we can decide whether we want to make a run back to the hotel with these or continue on from here."

Moira glanced at him, shaking her head at the way he still insisted on trying to help her. #As much as I appreciate th' gesture, love, remember tha' me co-worker on Muir uses a cane ta get around.# Her back tightened a little at the thought of Rory, she still hadn't talked to him since they had left, but she forced it away. "A drink would be lovely, though," Moira admitted. "Nay used ta this sun yet."

Nathan gave her a slightly sheepish smile. "There's a cafe right here," he said. They headed over in that direction, sitting down at one of the outside tables beneath a broad white umbrella. "I'll get an orange juice," he said to the instantly-appearing waiter.

"Water, please," Moira, getting untangled from the bags. She rubbed her arms and then sat back, enjoying the cool breeze. The sun was hot but the breeze more than made up for it. "'avin' fun?"

His embarassed smile changed swiftly to a real grin. "Thoroughly. This is precisely the kind of shopping I love. All kinds of weird and wonderful little shops..."

Moira laughed and nodded. "I know yer nay so much inta th' traditional shoppin'," she agreed, glad he'd been more than willing to stay behind when she went out to pick up a few surprise items. "But this is much more fun than any other kind."

***

"Thought you were tired," Nathan chuckled. She was really getting entirely too much of a kick out of him being in the cast. Taking advantage, definitely. He shivered as her lips brushed across the base of his throat. "That tickles," he murmured, beginning to get lost in what he was sensing on the link.

"Want me ta stop?" Moira teased, nipping at the sensitive area at the base of his neck. She giggled at the resulting pout and tightening of hands on her legs. "I'll take tha' as a nay? An' I was but nay enough ta -sleep-..." They had taken a quick cat nap after they had gotten back to the room, which Moira was thankful for. Less clothes to worry about later. She let her hands wander down his sides, teasing but not tickling.

"I think the fresh air's agreeing with you," Nathan said with a contented sigh. He was oddly tickled by how aggressive she was being. Yet there was a sense of hesitancy on the link still, a touch of uncertainty that he couldn't pretend he didn't sense. "You are," he said softly, tracing the line of her spine with a gentle hand, "the most beautiful woman I know."

She arched a little under the touch but flushed at the compliment. Moira turned her head slightly, hair falling onto Nathan as she nuzzled at his ear and shifted to get a little more comfortable. She couldn't help but laugh slightly at the noise he made at that and tried to stop blushing.

Nathan couldn't help a bit of a frown, though, seeing and sensing her reaction. "Why don't you believe me when I tell you that?" he asked gently, reaching out with his telekinesis and imagining feather-light touches all up and down her body. Mobility was a moot point.

"I dinnae disbelieve ye," Moira murmured, not really answering his question as shivered at the touches. She moaned a little when he added a little bit of pressure to the more sensitive areas on her body.

There it was again, Nathan thought. The link was wide open at the moment, but it was buried so deep he could only catch glimpses of it. Conflict, a sensation of withdrawal... no, of needing to hold back. Needing to? Frowning more deeply, he let his hands wander down over her body, as if aimlessly, even as he focused his telekinesis a little more closely.

Moira clutched at his shoulders tightly, breathing starting to come heavier as he stepped things up a bit. Her eyes popped open as she felt something on the link. "Nathan?" she asked, quietly, struggling to regain her mental balance. It was hard when he didn't stop what he was doing. But there was what felt like worry on the other end of the link. "Wha's wron'?" Again, struggled to keep her mind in one place though her body kept telling her to go to another.

Nathan's jaw tightened, and carefully, he turned them over, reversing their positions so that he was on top. It was difficult to do properly, even with the new cast, but he managed it. Moira gasped, startled, but his eyes narrowed as he studied the play of emotions across her face. "I don't know," he murmured, raising a hand and stroking the side of her face tenderly. "I don't understand..."

Without thinking, Moira leaned into his hand but then blinked up at him. "Nathan, yer leg," she protested, worried, but something in the way he looked at her told her to worry about that later. "Dinnae understand wha'?" She was confused as well. Had she done something wrong? The thought made her brow furrow as she tried to think what could be wrong, even as her hands settled on his hips, more for the contact than anything else.

"It's not trust," he said, peering down at her intently. "It's not that..." He didn't think he could have handled it if it was. "You're... afraid? Worried?" It was so damned hard to interpet half-formed thoughts. For a moment, he could almost wish for Manuel's ability.

She stared back up at him, more confused than ever. "Wha' are ye--" Moira stopped as Nathan suddenly pushed back the fragments of thoughts he was getting from her back to her. "...oh..." Acute embarrasment flushed through her and she squeezed her eyes closed for a second.

"Don't," he murmured to her softly. "Please? Just... tell me what it is. Is it something I'm doing, or not doing...?"

"Nay!" Moira's eyes flew back open and she shook her head. "Nay anythin' yer doin' or nay doin'. Stuff tha'...well, damn it, it's been years since I've even thought 'bout this." She groaned, frustrated and slightly upset with herself.

Nathan shifted over a little, settling down beside her. He kept up the gentle telekinetic touches, making them more comforting. "Tell me?" he urged her gently, stroking her hair.

Part of her really wanted to ignore the touches and just go hide. "This is embarrasin'," Moira pointed out, miserable. But she sighed and turned slightly, to curl up against Nathan. Mainly so she could hide her face in his shoulder. "Yer probably guessin' it's Joe an' ye'd be partially right."

"But then I'd be partially wrong, too," he pointed out, shifting again so that he could get his arms around her. She needed to feel protected at the moment, he sensed.

"'e dinnae 'elp, let me put it tha' way. 'ell." She sighed again. "Remember th' first time..." Moira blushed and couldn't help but smile at his rather strong "yes". "I think I mentioned somethin' 'bout bein' a wee bit wild in me teen years. Love, let me jus' say tha' was an understatement. When yer attendin' college at 15 but still livin' at 'ome wit' an overprotective father...rebellin' seemed th' way t' go." A touch of sadness suddenly entered her voice at the thought of her father and the years she wasted. "...I dinnae do meself any favors those years, believe me..." This is where it got hard, she realized.

Nathan just held her and listened, projecting subtle encouragement down the link.

"Lord, I will 'ave ta show ye th' pictures," she grumbled, trying to cheer herself up. "Talk 'bout leather. I'm jus' nay proud o' wha' I did durin' those years." Moira wrinkled her nose as she thought about some of them. "Wasnae verra much fun, nay for me. An' then Joe came alon'. Bad boy from th' other side o' th' tracks. There werenae any plans ta get married, let me jus' say tha' now. But after th' first...scare...me da put 'is foot down." The wind blew in from the open window and she paused to drink it in. "Wasnae th' best partner, tha's for sure." There was a great deal of disgust for him that she tried to hold back from seeping down the link, not wanting to add fuel to the already burning inferno Nathan had for Joe.

"You're ashamed," Nathan said almost wonderingly. "Moira, you were young... we all made mistakes when we were young." She looked up at him, and he smiled at her warmly, maybe a little wryly. "It taught you what you didn't want, at least. Maybe try and think of it that way?" Offering to stop in England and off Joe on the way back home next weekend was probably not going to go over all that well at the moment, as tempting an idea as it was.

"I regret it," she murmured, "because I messed thin's up wit' me da. An' we'd only stitched thin's back up when Kevin was born an' 'e passed away two years after tha'." Moira closed her eyes again. "Also regret it because, well, damn it, I could 'ave done th' whole experience thin' much better." Not that there hadn't been some pleasurable moments, but the non-fun ones out ranked those by a good deal. "Always 'ad ta be th' one 'oldin' together, ye know." She caught something along the link and rushed to reassure him. "Joe never did anythin' I protested ta," she soothed. "Jus'...all 'bout 'im, ye know?"

Nathan sighed, his arms tightening around her. "I'm sorry," he said softly, closing his eyes for a moment. "I wish... I just wish it had been different for you." He couldn't stop the fierce, protective thoughts from slipping down the link, or the complicated tangle of respect and wistfulness and yearning. "You deserved better," he murmured. "You deserve so much better..."

"I 'ave it now," Moira pointed out, tucking her head into his neck so she could blink back some sudden tears. "Jus' find it 'ard ta...let go. I'm sorry. Stupid control issues."

He laughed softly, knowing that she would know it wasn't directed at her. "I understand. Believe me, I understand." Smiling, he reached down, shifting her slightly in his arms so that she had to look up at him. "I'll just have to spend the next forty years or so convincing you that I love you madly and you're not getting down off that pedestal no matter how much you protest."

Reaching up, Moira linked her arms around his neck and shook her head. "'ow on eart' do ye find tha' much patience for me?" she asked, stretching so she could reach up to kiss him firmly.

"Just reciprocating," he said softly once she drew back a little. The link was clearer, none of that tension remaining, and he gazed into her blue eyes for a long moment, debating. A faint, wicked smile tugged at his lips suddenly. "You are just impossibly tough, you know that? You really, really are..."

"I'm nay as tough as I pretend ta be," Moira pointed out, tracing his jaw line with a gentle touch. "Lots o' bluff an' bluster an' most people dinnae see beyond tha'."

"I don't mean on the surface," he said, turning them back over, laying a hand over her heart. She shivered a little. "I mean deep down, where it counts. You just..." Nathan stopped, smiled down at her a ltitle unsteadily. "You leave me in awe sometimes," he said softly, raising a hand to brush the hair out of her eyes. "You really do."

Moira stared back, eyes wide and her breath hitched just a little. With the feelings and thoughts that were coming down the link, she didn't have the energy to protest what he was saying. Nathan truely believed it and desperatly wanted her to believe it as well. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled when she felt the slight stubble. "Ye do th' same ta me," she admitted softly.

Nathan gave a soft, nervous chuckle. "I think I remember where we were," he said, and kissed her.

There wasn't much chance to poke along the line of the sudden skittishness she caught from the link, not when he kissed her like that. Moira moaned softly and let her hands drift down to his back, scraping gently with her nails. There was only a little struggle to maintain control this time and it was given a helping hand to leave as Nathan suddenly bit down a little harder on the side of her neck.

Time to make it all about her, Nathan thought, sparing a very brief, very private, and very evil thought for Joe MacTaggart before he shut out everything but Moira. At the moment, she was the center of his universe, and he couldn't be happier.