Manuel and Moira

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Manuel stops by Moira's office to talk about power training. Blood is taken for future tests and she suggests he take up meditation until she can get a good look at what's going on in his body. But when she steps out to get something, Manuel does a little bit of snooping.



Idly, Moira flipped through Manuel's folder. Thankfully, Nathan had remembered to update it with the most recent information from the lessons. There was nothing like not having the most current up-to-date information to ruin someone's day. With regards to Manuel's e-mail, she had left the lab coat back in her lab. The more at ease she put him, the better off the both of them would be. A quick glance at her clock showed her that it was almost time for him to arrive.

Manuel knocked quietly on the door to Moira's office. Inside, he was a gigantic exposed nerve, but he would rather be Jamie's valet than admit it to Moira or to anyone else.

"Come in," she called, reading the last page of notes quickly.

Manuel walked in, dressed casually in a white button-down shirt and black dress slacks. "Hola." he said, voice betraying just a hint of nervousness. He looked around at the clutter, and tried to find a decent place to sleep far away from any needles or suppositories she might happen to have hidden away somewhere.

"Dinnae mind th' clutter," Moira smiled, opening the bottom drawer on her desk. All student files were kept on the computer, true, but she had seen the end result of computers crashing (or being stolen) and precious data being lost. Hard copies were not without their merits and so she kept her own copies of the records close at hand. Quickly, she replaced Manuel's file and then locked the drawer. "Think th' seat closest ta th' desk doesnae 'ave anythin' on it."

Manuel worked his way gingerly across the room, and swept a hand across the seat (to check for sharps) before sitting down. "So - you think you can help me with my mutation." he said flatly.

"I believe I might be able ta," she responded, folding her arms on the desk in front of her. "I've never come across an empat' o' yer level before but I 'ave 'ad some come across me doorstep in th' years past. Nay everythin' works for everyone but it cannae 'urt ta try."

"I won't lie to you. I don't trust doctors. But I am willing to try, but if you start feeling uncomfortable or suspicious or afraid, that's probably me leaking and not your own feelings. I am buttoned as much as I can be and still talk coherently." he admitted. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll be upfront wit' ye as well. One o' th' first thin's I'm goin' ta want ta do is run some blood work on ye. I dinnae need much, thankfully." She watched him for a reaction. "Yer body 'ouses yer mutation an' I jus' want ta make sure everythin's flyin' straight in tha' regard."

Manuel, despite his best intentions, flinched. He closed his eyes to steady his ragged empathic shields. "I am trusting you, Doctor. Do it quickly, and get this done with before I lose my nerve completely." he said, voice taut with tension. "And take it from the _arm_."

Prepared that he would ask her to do it as soon as possible, Moira slide out the needle from the top drawer. She also grabbed the tie, a cotton ball and the alcohol wipe. Standing up, she rounded the desk and gently took his arm in her hands. Expertly, in a matter of seconds she had his sleeve rolled up and the tie on. Projecting as much as she could calm feelings, she rubbed the area and then slid the needle home. Moira didn't comment when he turned his head away but the needle filled with blood was out within as short a time as was possible. She placed the cotton ball on there and pulled a band-aid from her pocket and put it in place. Releasing Manuel's arm, she stepped back. Under three minutes, not bad. "There, all done," she said softly.

Manuel nodded, then opened his eyes slowly. He waited for the telltale burn of lithium, or the slow stupor of thorazine, and when neither appeared after a minute or so, he released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "That wasn't so bad." he said, wiping away the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief.

"Nay, most times it 'tisnae," she agreed, sitting back down. "An' it'll be wort' it, I can learn a lot tha'll probably be able ta 'elp ye from this sample."

"Usually, when I had blood drawn, that also meant I was on a one-way trip to chemical oblivion." he commented flatly. "Lithium, if my power needed to be quieted for later in the day, or thorazine to shut it off completely."

"There are people who should never be given th' chance ta become doctors," Moira responded, shaking her head a little. "But I promise ye, this'll be th' last thin' I'll need in th' way o' lab work for a while. Everythin' else is pretty straight forward."

"Since you're going to have my blood under the microscope anyway, can you check to see if there was any damage from the chemicals? I was high a _lot_ while I was in the asylum - lithium, thorazine, heroin, morphene, others I don't have names for. By the way, I react very badly to sodium pentathol. Don't ever use it on me unless you want me to die right in front of you."

She nodded. "Aye, I will. I'll run th' whole gauntlet on this sample, jus' ta make sure there are nay surprises. An' I'll remember tha' last one." Soon, the sample of blood was tucked into her medical kit, ready to be taken to the lab later. "Now, 'ave ye done anythin' wit' mediatin'?"

"A little bit. Marie showed me the absolute basics, before she and her lover left for Canada." he said. "I haven't really tried it lately. Do you think it would help?"

"I do. Part o' it goes back ta yer body...it 'elps relax ye, eases muscle tension ye dinnae even realize was there, tha' kind o' thin'. Mentally, th' main thin' it'll do is 'elp calm down emotional states. 'Tis verra useful all around. An' 'tis another mental exercise, which is never a bad thin'." She shrugged. "Plus, 'tis somethin' ye can do on yer own time."

"Sounds good. I'll have to concentrate and let myself go at the same time. A neat trick, if I can figure out how. If I let go completely, I'll scan everyone and the Mirror will come back out." he said.

"I recommend takin' it slowly, less likely ta let go completely," Moira explained. "Basically, yer goin' ta want ta be able ta calm yer thoughts an' emotions down. As odd as it'll seem, I also recommend when yer mediatin' use candles." She grinned a little. "Nay talkin' 'bout all those weird kinds, jus' a candle or two tha' ye think smells nice. Calmin' yer senses down 'elps matters as well."

"I just want to get one that doesn't burn with odd colors. But Amanda never sees what I see when I see a candleflame. Maybe you will. Do you have a candle in here somewhere?" he asked, patting himself down at the same time for his lighter.

"Somewhere," she muttered, looking around. "Ah, there it is..." Turning, she reached above her head and grabbed the apple pie smelling candle off the shelf. "'ere ye go."

Manuel lit the candle with his lighter, then looked into the flame. "There, do you see it? It's got this weird yellow-blue-red mix, right there where the blue middle part ends and the yellow outer parts start. Amanda can't see it, but I can."

Moira stared at the candle and shook her head. "I dinnae see it, either." She frowned. "Interestin'. Somethin' ye may want ta look inta after a while. For now...nay candles, I dinnae think seein' odd colors will make ye any more relaxed."

"No, it's usually fairly distracting. People keep telling me candles are soothing, but they jar at me when I focus in on them." he admitted.

"Really somethin' ta look inta." Moira thought. "Music would be th' next one, then, while yer mediatin'. Whatever type o' music calms ye down is the best kind ta listen ta while mediatin'."

Manuel grins. "Got that part covered. I have a couple of relaxing mixes made up already. I change them when I get bored with them."

"Excellent! Hmmm...do ye mind if'n I pop out for jus' a wee second? I think I 'ave an excellent book on tape for mediatin', listen ta tha' th' first few times ta begin wit'. 'Tis in th' other lab, would just' need ta pop down there."

"Be my guest." he said. "I'll wait for you."

Trying to remember which lab it was, Moira ducked out and headed down to the labs at a quick rate of speed.

Once the office door closed, Manuel stood up and moved to Moira's desk. Picking up a paperclip off of her desk, he straightened the wire and inserted it into the lock. Wiggling the wire, he expertly popped the lock open. "Stupid." he muttered in Castillian, looking for his own file, to know what the Doctor had recorded about him. He found that, but he also found something far more interesting. The file labeled Espinoza, Angelo.

Down in the lab, Moira hunted around, turning over books and papers in her search. "Bloody tape is 'ere somewhere," she muttered. Blinking, she suddenly ducked her head and looked under the table. "There ye are..." Reaching down, she scooped it up.

Manuel flipped through the file as quickly as he could. Technical English was far from his strong-point, but there were words he knew. HIV, prostitution, hepatitis - those he knew. ~Rentboy.~ he smirked in Castillian, then replaced the file and relocked the drawer. He'd have to come back later, to make a copy of the file to puzzle out later. What a delicious stroke of luck!

Tape in hand, Moira made her back to her office as quickly as she had left it. "Bloody thin' was 'ard ta find," she apologized as she walked through. She blinked as Manuel walked around the room but chalked it up to him stretching after the case of the nerves. "But this should be o' some 'elp until ye find yer own way ta do it."

Manuel took the tape from Moira with a smile. "Thanks." he said. "I'm beginning to feel better already about this." he said. "I'll make sure I give it a listen first chance I get. Maybe I'll even rip the tape to MP3 and play it on my iPod."

"Aye, good idea. CD's are th' way ta go." She sat down on the edge of her desk. "I've got some other ideas but I want ta run th' tests on th' blood work first, get a better idea o' wha' we'll be workin' wit'. Once tha's done, we'll plan out where ta go from there." Moira looked at him levelly. "I cannae promise ye tha' this'll fix all yer problems. But it may fix some an' tha's a step in th' right direction."

"I'll take any help I can get." he said with a shrug. "It's past time that I ruled the power, and not the other way around."

"Ye'll get it eventually, Manuel. I know yer nay one ta quit."

"And as much as I hate to admit it, the Askani are being extremely useful. Even if they are trying to spread their gospel to everyone. I won't let them get me, though. Even though I need their knowledge." he said, sounding somewhat paranoid.

Wisely, Moira decided not to argue with him about that. She hadn't really experienced much of the Askani herself, after all. "Tha's all ye can do sometimes," she replied. "Take wha' ye can from lessons, nay everythin' tha's presented is wha' ye need. Or want."

Manuel blinked in surprise, and then nodded to the Scot. "Nice to see someone else around here can see reason from time to time." he said with some amusement. "You surprise me."

"I'm datin' Nathan, I'm nay stupid," Moira replied dryly, grinning. "I've got two PhD's ta me name an' trust me, some classes I most definatly dinnae need, so I jus' took a wee bit an' promptly ignored th' rest. 'appens in life."

"Your involvement with Nathan was an argument con, not pro." he said. "The doctors who raped and butchered me also had PhDs. I'm not really that impressed by them. But you're doing OK by me so far, so I'm content to permit you your inquiries."

"Luke I said early, some people should never be given th' chance ta become doctors." Or at the very least, forced to endure what they did to their patients. "An' I'm nay goin' ta push an' prod ta much, nay if it makes ye uncomfortable. Th' minute ye become uncomfortable or want ta stop, tell me, we'll end whatever we're doin'. It'll nay 'elp ye an' 'tis better tha' way."

Manuel smirked. "If I'm uncomfortable, I can guarantee that you'll know about it very quickly. But we're OK so far. Is there anything else you wanted me to try besides looking at my blood and some meditation?"

"Nay right now. I'm goin' ta go start some tests now an' once I've compiled th' information, I'll let ye know. This'll basically tell me where th' next few steps should go."

"Fair enough. You know how to find me when the results are in. Oh, and Doctor? This stays between you and me, right?" he asked, clearly worried.

Moira blinked. "O' course. Only in th' case o' an emergancy would any o' this be divulged an' tha' would 'ave ta be one 'ell o' an emergancy for me ta break confidentiaitly. Basically th' only time I break it is if th' information I possess would 'elp keep ye or someone else from bein' 'urt." She shrugged. "An', 'onestly, I dinnae see 'ow this information could. I'll put down th' results o' th' bloodwork in yer file an' tha's pretty much it."

Manuel ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm just twitchy, I suppose. I'll deal with it before everyone else gets twitchy too." He twirled the dampener around his right wrist absently as he talked.

"'Tis understandable tha' yer twitchy an' I dinnae mind answerin' questions like tha'."

"I suppose I'm making progress - when I first arrived, if someone made me twitchy, I made sure they regretted it and stopped making me twitchy. Now I'm willing to suffer through it." he commented.

"Tha' is progress," she reassured him. "May nay feel tha' way sometimes, but it 'tis. An' ye'll get ta th' point where ye'll nay be so twitchy."

"Someday." he commented. "Not today, but someday. If we're done here ... ?" he asked, clearly itchy to leave.

"Aye, we're done." Pushing herself off the desk, she walked him to the door. "I'm off ta th' lab ta work on this. 'ope th' mediation works for ye."

"I'll let you know." he said curtly. Apparently the stress was starting to get to him. "Good day, Doctor." he said, then fled the room in as dignified a manner as he could manage.