Nathan, Moira, with a cameo by Alison, Thursday night

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Moira goes to find Nathan in the library to find out precisely why he's a wuss. Nathan comes to some realizations. Plans are made. The virtue of spontaneity is explored. Then Alison walks in.



Moira trotted into the library and let the door swing closed behind with a soft sound. There was no clear sight of Nathan but she had guessed he'd be futher in the back anyway and she headed in that direction, smiling as he noticed her presence and opened up the link more. Finally she found him, hidden between the ancient Greeks and ancient Sumerians and came up behind him.

"'ey ye," she said, grinning as she leaned forward to give him a kiss.

He had picked this spot quite deliberately, knowing that very few if any students ventured back here. The stack of books on Eastern Europe and Western Asia sitting on the desk beside him was gradually growing shorter as he scanned through them, scrawling down the occasional note as to their usefulness for this course he had in mind.

#I'm a wuss and I'm hiding behind my books,# he sent, sensing Moira come up behind him.

"An' wha' did I do for God knows 'ow many years?" she asked gently and then paused. "Oh. Bad thin' ta brin' up, I think ye called me a wuss as well." Sighing but smiling a little, she reached up to ruffle his hair playfully. "Ye 'ad reason for wantin' ta 'ide, love. Grateful as I am tha' yer realizin' ye dinnae need ta anymore."

"Well," he muttered, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Still have to be careful. Avoid falling into patterns, watch what I do... but yeah, I don't think immuring myself on school grounds is quite as necessary as I thought it was." He sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe it was just easier that way," he confessed.

"It always is. 'ome is safe, comfortin'--as much stuff as goes on 'ere, it really is." Walking around, Moira perched on the table top in front of him, not quite sitting down. "I'm smellin' a venture off campus, aye?"

"A carefully planned, deliberately random venture," Nathan said, setting the book in his hands down. "In a few days. To test the waters?"

She thought for a second, drumming her finger on the table lightly. "I'm goin' in ta see Stephen...possibly Monday," she murmured, still thinking. "Make sure nothin's left from Firefountain, talk 'bout some o' th' stuff tha' 'appened wit' th' kids." Moira looked at him and smiled. "'ow does lunch afterward sound? Jus' th' two o' us, some wee, quiet resturant in New York?"

"Yes," he said a bit recklessly. "Sounds perfect." He looked up at Moira, his jaw set stubbornly. "I don't like being a wuss." All the things that everyone had said to him about not letting Mistra dictate his life had come back this afternoon all at once, and he was starting to think that there had been no 'humoring' of him involved. Just patience, waiting for him to figure it out himself.

Some of that spilled over onto the link and she smiled at him brilliantly. "Exactly." Leaning forward, she kissed him again and then pulled away slightly. "About time ye figured tha' out."

"I'm slow," he said, giving her a repentant look that turned a bit hesitant after a moment. "Were you that reluctant to give me a kick in the ass about it?"

"There are somethin's tha' people 'ave ta realize by themselves," Moira told him. "This was one o' them."

Nathan's jaw clenched, angry frustration stirring inside him again. He didn't quite manage to keep it off the link, but Moira would know it wasn't directed at her. All the years he had spent living more or less outside the law, all the people that had been after him for all those various reasons... and just when he actually had found himself with a life to enjoy, he had let Mistra frighten him into a corner.

Wordlessly, she got up from the table and slid into his lap. She didn't say anything, just wrapped an arm around his neck and snuggled close. Moira nestled her head in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes, sending reassuring thoughts down the link at him.

#What is it about them,# he sent after a moment, #that turns me into a scared fourteen year-old?#

#Nathan, any sane person would be scared ta deat' o' these people, especially after they 'ad their claws in them. 'Tis nothin' wron' wit' bein' scared.#

His arms slid around her. #I'm tired of feeling like such a coward,# he sent back with a mental sigh, then flinched as he almost voiced the rest of it: that he wished they would just do something. There was no part of him that wanted another Columbia, he told himself. Or no part of him that should...

Laying a hand over his, Moira smiled at him. #Sometimes, yer th' stupidest smart man I know,# she chided gently, kissing him on the cheek. #Yer one o' th' bravest men I know, Nathan Daysprin'.#

He met her eyes, smiling finally. "Just don't ever give up on me?" he asked finally, aloud. He didn't know what he would do if she ever did.

She blinked at him. "Never," she promised firmly.

Nathan reached up, drifting a hand across her cheek. "Surreal," he murmured again, remembering his words from last night. Before she could protest, he leaned forward and kissed her. Not a decorous peck, or even just casually affectionate.

Surprised, Moira clutched at his shirt and then relaxed as one of his hands curled in her hair slightly. Not that she was going to go anywhere, not with his other arm holding her tightly. "Nathan..." she breathed when he pulled away, only to moan slightly as he moved his mouth to her ear.

There was no one else in the library, or he wouldn't have come in here in the first place. And yes, that was about all he had to spare in the way of logical thought. Real, he told himself as Moira gave that breathy moan.

It was very hard to think when Nathan was doing that thing to her neck, Moira thought, pressing closer. A very small thought did whizz by, it was about this being inappropriate and other stuffy things like that. Which promptly vanished when Nathan's hand moved.

Books off table, Nathan thought, and then they were flying off the table all obediently. Good books. Moira made a noise that sounded almost protesting, but he checked the link, and no, there was absolutely nothing in the way of hesitation in her mind.

There was a muffled squeak as Moira suddenly found herself on the now clear table, staring up at Nathan's grinning face. There was no debate in her mind as she reached up to pull him back down so she could kiss him properly, not know.

Breezing into the library as was her habit, Alison headed for the far shelf, wishing they had someone to damn well help now and then, because sometimes finding the right reference material wasn't the most obvious of things. Normally she'd leave it on the table only it was taken at the moment, so she kept walking until what she'd just seen actually registered.

Blink.

Oh. It was too tempting. "NATHAN! MOIRA!" Gasping in indignation, Alison turned to face them, book all but forgotten on the nearest available surface as she planted her fists on her hips. "In the library of all places! Any of the kids might walk in!" She paused, for effect. "Can you think of the trauma on their fragile and innocent young minds?!?"

Moira wasn't able to bit back the startled half-scream. Especially when Nathan jumped backwards, equally (if not slightly more) startled than she was. Unfortunatly for her, the sudden motion coupled with the fact that she hadn't been completely on the table did not bode well for her. So another, more curse-filled yelp followed as she found herself falling off the table and landing on the discarded books on the floord.

"Alison!" Nathan said, outraged, and then blinked and swore at the sight of Moira on the floor. He leaned down to help her up, glaring at the maniacally grinning blonde. "That was so very not funny," he growled, rather more flustered than he should have been.

A chortle was all Alison could manage, already prudently backing up - oh dear, the looks on their faces. "You know..." snicker "Artie likes to get" stifled laugh "books before bedtime." Shoulders shaking more and more she sidled towards the door, eyes dancing with delight.

"Ye're so bloody dead, Blaire!" Moira threatened, halfway up from the floor...and trying not to laugh the entire way up. She hated to admit it, the look on Nathan's face was priceless.

"At least" outright laughter now "it'll have been worth it!" Hand on her stomach, laughing so hard she was nearly bent over double, Alison scrabbled for the door handle and yanked it open, stumbling out into the hallway to hopefully make good her escape.

Nathan finished pulling Moira to her feet, trying very hard to ignore how red his face was. "In retrospect," he said, struggling for a dignified tone, "I suppose it could have been worse. Charles might have come in looking for some new reading material."