Moira, Haroun and a Koosh Ball

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

In her office, Moira becomes bored which becomes a Bad Thing for Haroun. He discovers the wonder of left over pillows and heating pads and she gets an idea for Nathan's training.



Moira leaned back in her chair and juggled the rather vividly purple koosh ball between her hands. She had taken refuge in her office a while back, after her long talk with Nathan, just to get away from it all. But now she was bordering on, well, being bored. Though there was a feeling of relieve behind that. If she was bored, it meant that nothing had exploded or gone awry.

A sound caught her attention and she leaned back further to listen. It sounded...was that Haroun? Moira tilted her head and smiled as he passed someone in the hallway. Turning her chair to face the door, she readied the koosh ball and waited.

Haroun, back screaming agony at him in major thirds, was on his way back up to his room - where a very soft cushioned chair and a good book awaited him. He wasn't paying his usual attention to his surroundings, being too busy dealing with the screaming agony that was his lower back.

There was a seconds pause as he passed by Moira's office door and then she tossed it at him. There wasn't a whole lot of strength behind it and she purposely aimed for his head. Besides the humor value of hitting Haroun in the head with a ugly, purple koosh ball, she didn't want to hit him anywhere near his back.

Haroun was pulled out of his litany of OW by the impact of a fuzzy rubbery _thing_ against his head. "What the hell?" he said, forgetting himself and straightening into a combat crouch, then nearly falling to his knees at the agony in his back. "OW!" he hissed through gritted teeth.

Facepalming, Moira found herself on her feet and heading for him. "Son o' a--'aroun, I'm sorry, I dinnae think ye'd react like _tha'_..." There was a definate flash of guilt that went through her when she saw the look of pain on his face. As annoyed as she had been about the childish bickering between him and Nathan (and the fact that he had seen fit to try and work after his back injury), she'd really only been attempting to have a bit of fun with him. Not something she had often tried before.

"No, it's OK." he said, wincing at the new waves of pain. "I need to get off my feet. Got a chair for me to rest in for a while?" he asked, desperately hoping she'd say yes.

The chairs and the sofa in her office were really rather comfortable she thought. But..."I 'ave a better idea, actually," she said, reaching down to help him steady himself on his feet as he stood up. "Left overs from when I was 'elpin' someone out mont's ago. Never got around ta removin' them." Moira helped him into her office and then pointed to the one corner that was overflowing with the pillows she had used to help Jamie. "Think tha'll 'elp some?"

Haroun looked the way that people dying of thirst look at an unexpected oasis. "I take back every bad thing I've thought about you in the last ... year." he said, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. "Run away with me to Morocco to live in sin?" he asked her with an impish smile.

Grinning back, she shook her head mournfully. "Ach, tha' I would but I believe I've got some previous kidnappin's ta attend ta first," Moira teased, walking over to the tea pot to pour another cup. "But I'll see wha' I can do ta fit ye in." She paused. "Tea an' some painkillers?"

"I'll take the tea happily. Painkillers I'll have to pass on - dosing for me is really weird, given the organics/cybernetics mix." he said with a mock-pout. "I feel better already." he said. "What was it that you threw at me, anyway?"

"Tha's right, I remember somethin' Maddie was sayin' 'bout 'ow much ye could take." Moira reached up and scooped up a mug that said Rejoyce, For This is a Scottish Mug to set aside the one already out. As she was pouring the tea, she turned to look at Haroun. "Koosh ball," she said, a mite sheepish. "Paige an' I escaped yesterday an' wound up at a toy store. I bought...about 45 o' them."

"Allah preserve us." Haroun said with a roll of his eyes Heaven-ward. He then grabbed a convenient Koosh-ball, and bounced it lightly off of Moira's red hair with a smirk. "There. Vengeance is satisfied."

Luckily the wayward Koosh ball managed to bounced away from the two mugs of tea and she nudged it safely under her desk with a foot. "Oh good, 'ate it when vengance takes a while ta 'appen. Makes me all paranoid." Leaning down, she handed Haroun the mug and sat in a nearby chair. "Back feelin' any better?"

"Somewhat." he said with a grimace, accepting the mug with a nod. "I may need to sit for a bit to let the back rest up for a bit before I head back up to my room. Don't mind me."

"Please, feel free. I'm th' one who started it. Besides, it was gettin' kind o' quiet down 'ere." Moira grimaced. "Better than th' ruckus tha's been goin' on th' past few days, though."

"It has been insane in here. When classes start back up, all of this misdirected energy should find better places to go." he said, then sipped his tea. Making a face, he quickly put the mug to one side. "Remind me to buy you a new tea blend."

"Ye think I enjoy this stuff?" she asked, bleching at her cup of tea. "Some o' 'tis nay so bad, but I'm longin' for th' day tha' I can 'ave me bloody coffee back. An' thank God for classes, I've missed teachin' an' missed 'avin' th' kids 'ave somethin' ta do wit' their time."

"At this point, I'm just about ready to call Sebastian and see if they can replace the muscles in my lower back with synthetics that don't get overstressed like this." Haroun said, trying to give himself a lower backrub. "I'll heal eventually, but I am going to be SORE for a while."

"Does 'eat 'elp at all?" Moira asked, watching him as he attempted to twist his arms in ways that God never really intended man to twist.

"Heat does help." he said. "Do you have a heating pad somewhere in here? I think I'd praise your name to Allah Himself for a heating pad right now."

"Quite a few, actually. Gettin' sore in me old age." Actually grateful she could put the mug of tea down, Moira stood up and started rummaging through some drawers. "At Muir, we 'ad a rather neat one tha' was incredibly lon'. It was for Dr. Campbell when th' muscles in th' top part o' wha' was left o' 'is leg would 'urt. Wrapped around several times. I'll look inta gettin' ye one, would be verra useful. 'ere we go." Pulling it out, she stuck it in the microwave and set the timer.

Haroun tried not to look pathetically grateful. "Since I've cooled myself down to normal temperatures, this is going to feel _so_ good." he said, enraptured. "Ice baths on overstressed muscles are a bad thing."

She winced at the thought of that. "Ach, aye they are. An' applyin' th' 'eat right after th' icebat' would also do ye no amount o' good." When it beeped, she turned and pulled it out, bopping it from hand to hand like the Koosh ball earlier. "Lean forward a tad," she instructed, kneeling down next to him. "Keepin' this pressed ta yer back wit' th' pillows behind should 'elp a good deal." Gently, she placed it against where she could _see_ the muscles bunched and tensing.

Haroun leaned forward as best he could, hissing from the sudden spike of pain that the gesture caused him. "Just be quick about it." he said, wincing from the effort to keep himself leaned forward. Once she had it into place, he leaned back with a relieved sigh.

"Sorry 'bout tha'." Moira grinned, though, at the expression on his face. "I dinnae think I 'ave ta ask if'n tha' feels good. I'm so bloody tempted ta ask Charles ta finance 'avin' massage chairs in th' mansion. At this rate, everyone's goin' ta need them."

"Oh, it feels just fine _now_." he said with a smile on his face. "Can we just get one of you medical-types to get certified as a maseusse? You'd make a fortune..." he mused.

An eyebrow quirked at the idea. "Ye know...tha's nay a 'alf bad idea," Moira said, snickering a little as she rocked back on her heels. "We could put everyone back together an' then charge them for a massage."

"Exactly. Capitalism at its finest. As the originator of the idea, I'll take my cut in free backrubs." he said with a smirk. "And heating pads. Nice, warm heating pads."

"I'll keep tha' in mind." In the back of her mind, Moira filed away the idea that she would order him that heating pad she had talked about. And soon. A few seconds of comfortable silence passed by as they both relaxed before she looked up at him. "I never did thank ye for gettin' me out o' th' warehouse," she said, softly.

"No thanks are necessary." he replied. "I'm glad we got you out. And not glad that we couldn't have pulled Nathan out as well. Admittedly, it all turned out relatively OK, but that could not have been easy on you."

"It wasnae," she admitted, "but I dinnae blame anyone for tha'. Even stopped blamin' meself, or almost anyway, so tha's progress. In th' lon' run, everythin' is workin' out. It'll jus' take time."

"I offered to help him get back into shape, just so you know." Haroun said. "Man has all the wrong instincts for this line of work."

"An' ta many right one's for th' wron' kind o' work," Moira mused. "Thanks. There's only so much I can do. Once 'e's back on 'is feet, I think there might be a change in 'ow 'e goes 'bout 'is power. I'm workin' on a few scenario's tha' may 'elp."

Haroun quirked an eyebrow. "Feel like sharing? I'm no expert, but I was out there on my own for over five years - maybe I can help." he offered.

"Any advice is good advice. I'll send ye th' specs when everythin' is more put together, but for th' most part--" Moira grimaced. "I've worked 'im for a reason ta get th' small stuff down. Wit' th' virus an' all, Nathan needs tha' control. But from th' looks o' it, it needs ta go th' other way as well. Bigger thin's at a faster rate."

Haroun grinned. "He is Not Allowed to juggle my plane. Not even for training purposes. Unless he writes me a check for the cost of a new one in case he drops it."

Laughing, Moira held up her hands. "Nathan's nay goin' anywhere near yer baby, I promise."

"That's a very good thing." he said with a grin. "But he can have the scrapped starboard engine remnants if you want him to play with something big. Should be a few hundred pounds all in, nice and irregular."

"Ooo, tha' would be perfect. Irregular weight is better, right now. Far ta used ta small thin's tha' were, while difficult ta grab, dinnae weigh much at all."

Haroun then grinned as a thought struck him. "Better yet, I can repair it for him, and then he can play at holding back ten thousand pounds or so of thrust..." he smirked.

Moira's eyes widened at the thought. "Would need a safe area ta do tha'," she mused, a glint showing up in her eyes at the thought of a new idea. "It'd be 'eavy an' would 'ave movin' parts an' there'd be one 'ell o' a thrust..."

"I was joking, but if you think it would help, I'm sure we could arrange something. A little training pod - a fuel tank, the engine, and that's about it. Let him hold that, guide it around. Of course, wrecking it will get very expensive, but that's up to you." Haroun said.

"I could always tap inta me funds," she pointed out. "Investin' wit' nothin' ta spend it on but Muir--I think I 'ave enough ta toss at somethin' like tha'. Th' trainin' pod is a verra good idea, it'll 'elp Nathan on several different levels."

"Might want to clear it with Charles - we have the FAA to worry about, and I don't even want to THINK about my Flight class..." he said, mock-holding his head in worry.

A snicker escaped. "We can get around th' FAA. An' if'n we cannae, there are alternative spaces ye could 'ave yer Flight class an' th' trainin' pod in."

Haroun nodded. "Very true." he said. "I was just thinking of operational security, that's all. The fewer eyes on this place, the better."

"Verra true. Aye, th' last thin' we need is bed press because either Nathan knocked an engine through someone's roof or one o' th' kids in th' class nearly 'it a plane."

"Very true. We get enough bad press just for being what we are." Haroun said, then experimentally stretched his back a little. "The heat helps. A lot. Thank you." he said, looking at Moira gratefully.

"Nay problem, 'tis th' least I can do. Besides, ye gave me an evil idea ta test out on' Nathan." Moira grinned, trying to look innocent.

Haroun matched her fake-innocent look. "And when he trashes the first test-pod, you can tell him it was me who gave him the idea."