Scott and Kurt, Saturday afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Kurt coerces convinces Scott to come to Harry's with him. Kurt is quite good at wheedling things out of Scott, and isn't reassured by what Scott tells him. Scott drinks his coke and tries not to be grumpy.



There would probably be a number of people growling at him for reviewing training tapes on a Saturday afternoon, Scott knew. But it needed doing. He might have left Ororo to oversee a few of these sessions, but he still needed to know how they'd gone, and be able to make suggestions for improvement. He bit his lip, hands moving over his keyboard taking notes as his eyes remained fixed on the half of the screen showing Shinobi navigating an obstacle course in the Danger Room. Hurray for large monitors.

And here came one of those people now - although maybe not so much with the growling, as Kurt appeared in his doorway, looking at him wryly. "Hello, Scott."
Scott looked up for a moment, managing a brief, distracted smile. "Kurt. Something I can do for you?"

"More something you can do for you", Kurt answered lightly. "I was under the impression you were supposed to be taking more time off?"

Scott blinked. "Uh... well, this really does need doing, Kurt. And I don't have any training sessions of my own scheduled, or classes, so I just thought I'd do it now..."

Kurt nodded, then said speculatively, "So you would not be willing to go with me to Harry's for a drink?"

Scott couldn't help a wince. "Later, maybe?" he suggested. Drinking was bad. Drinking led to all kinds of unfortunate consequences. "Tomorrow?"

"I am going now", Kurt responded firmly, before adding with some prescience, "You do not have to drink alcohol. But time away from the mansion is a good thing."

"But I really should finish this," Scott protested, waving a hand at the stack of discs beside his keyboard. "I'm falling behind."

Kurt shook his head slightly. "It can wait. Just for an hour or two, perhaps?"

"But--" Kurt was still standing there, his tail moving lazily, that calm smile still on his face, and Scott came to a sudden realization. "You're not taking no for an answer, are you?" he asked with a faint smile.

"I will teleport you there if I have to", Kurt confirmed. "But I would rather not."

Scott sighed, shaking his head. "About what I figured." He stopped the replay of Shinobi's tape, saving the notes he'd made thus far and then shutting everything down. "An hour or two," he told Kurt, trying to sound stern. "I really am falling behind."

Kurt nodded cheerfully, not sharing the fact that he'd stretch that time out as long as he could get away with. "An hour or two."

"Lead on," Scott said with a wave, coming around from behind his desk.

Kurt nodded, leading the way to the parking garage. It didn't take them long to get to Harry's and installed in a booth, with the waiter standing ready to take their order. Kurt asked for a beer, then looked to Scott for his request. "The drinks are on me, since I wanted to come."

"I'll just have... a coke, I guess," Scott told the waiter. "It's got caffeine in it," he said a bit lamely to Kurt, who was giving him a knowing look. "Caffeine is my best friend. Really."

Kurt nodded as the waiter walked away, and asked bluntly, "How much have you been sleeping recently, Scott?"

Oh, it was going to be one of those conversations. "Maddie gave me something to help," Scott said a bit defensively, "and they did, for a few days. But I kept waking up groggy."

"They do that", Kurt agreed equably. "Does Madelyn know you are no longer taking them, and why? She may be able to provide an alternative."

"I hadn't mentioned it to her, no. She's been a bit busy these few days."

"This is true", Kurt acknowledged. "But both her most recent charges are back in the main house now, and I am sure she would want to know."

The waiter arrived with their drinks, and Scott sipped at his coke. "I don't really want to get into the habit of needing to take something to sleep," he finally said, quietly. "But I'll mention it to her."

Kurt took his beer with a nod of thanks to the waiter, then looked back at Scott. "That is fair enough. But as I understand it, stopping sleep medication too suddenly can affect sleep too."

"It's not that I'm not sleeping at all," Scott said with a slightly strained smile. "Just not sleeping particularly well."

Kurt nodded, knowing what that almost certainly meant. "You know, Amanda's potions are very effective, or so I hear. In helping you to sleep... or in stopping dreams..."

"I..." Scott stopped, shaking his head a bit quizzically. "You're the first one to come out and say that, you know," he said with a sigh. "Everyone else who's found out I'm not sleeping well has just concentrated on offering solutions. Not asking why." He smiled slightly. "Probably figuring I'd tell them in my own good time."

Kurt smiled wryly. "People very rarely do that without reason, I have found, if they do not right away. Do you want to tell me about it?"

Scott took the lime wedge off the side of his glass and dropped it in. "You could probably guess most of it," he said after a moment. "Alkali Lake. Jean. Betsy. Alex. Various horrible things happening to the kids and the school, and not being able to do a damned thing about it..."

Kurt nodded, unsmiling. "I think we have all had those dreams at one time or another", he answered. "Especially with everything that has happened since Alkali Lake." And that was a tacit admission to nightmares of his own, should Scott want to pursue it.

"Am I not the only one who's been having trouble sleeping, then?" Scott said with another faint smile.

Kurt returned it. "On occasion, yes. Some times more than others. I would be very surprised if you and I were the only ones, either. But if it is every night, Scott, that is different again."

"It's as if my subconscious just doesn't want to let certain things go," Scott said quietly. "I'm doing my best to address them when I'm awake, but I fall asleep and all bets are off."

"At risk of stating the obvious, then, that would suggest that there is more you could be doing", Kurt answered sadly, knowing what "certain things" probably were. "It is just not always easy to know what that is."

"There's always more that can be done," Scott said with a humorless smile, knowing he was not taking it quite as Kurt had meant it. "That's been part of the problem all along."

Kurt shook his head, a little frustrated, and tried to make his point clearer. "Not more that can be done to stop the things in your nightmares happening. That will always be true, and you will drive yourself into the ground trying to change it. I meant, more that can be done to address the things you mentioned."

"Such as?" Kurt was probably going to tell him anyway, Scott thought wryly, so he might as well be obliging and ask.

Kurt shrugged. "As I said, it is not always easy to know, and if anyone can, you are better placed than me. But as you said, the things you are doing are not stopping the nightmares."

"I really don't know, Kurt. Some of them..." He stopped, shrugged uncomfortably. "They're things I have to live with. Not much to be done about them one way or the other."

Kurt nodded. "Well, then, perhaps all you can do is let the nightmares pass with time. And take Amanda's potions or Madelyn's pills, when the sleep disturbance gets too bad."

Scott nodded, sipping at his coke again. "About what I figured," he said quietly, and more than a bit vaguely. It was the sort of answer that could have applied to either of Kurt's comments.

"So you will agree to take the pills, or failing that the potions, when you need them?" Kurt asked pointedly. "If you are worried about dependence, I understand Amanda's potions have no addictive properties."

"I'll talk to Maddie," Scott said a bit irritably, realizing Kurt wasn't going to let it go. "See what she says..."

Kurt nodded, accepting the answer on trust. For now. "Good. I only wish to see you well, Scott, you know that."

"I know," Scott said, managing an only-slightly-tight smile as he reached up and adjusted his glasses. "And I appreciate it."

Kurt smiled back, still with the slightest edge of worry to it, and took another drink of his beer. "You are welcome."

Scott was silent for a moment, sipping his coke. Harry's was quiet at this time of the afternoon, which was nice. "Haven't been here in a while," he said quietly.

Kurt nodded. "We could make it a regular outing, if you like", he offered. Just to make sure you do take time off.

"Regularly scheduled leisure time?" Scott asked dryly. "I suspect that would be too much for me. But I could promise not to balk quite so much the next time you ask me?"

Kurt smiled. "That will do for me. I will ask you regularly, at least. Or ask Alison to do it", he finished mischievously.

Scott snorted at him. "Oh, so this is a conspiracy, then." He sipped at his coke again, then grimaced. "You know, I think I prefer less sugar with my caffeine. Must be losing my sweet tooth in my old age." He'd have to stick to drinking water or something, when he was down here.

Kurt looked innocent. "Not at all. But it could be. And you can drink whatever you like."

"I suppose Harry probably serves coffee," Scott conceded. "I know he serves great hot chocolate when the weather turns cold..." He trailed off, a faint, wistful smile flickering across his lips as he remembered Jean and her affection for Harry's hot chocolate.

"Winter is coming in", Kurt observed, watching Scott closely. He hadn't known Jean well enough to know that fact about her, but the smile was clearly linked to some memory. "You could always get that."

"See above comment about sweet tooth," Scott said a bit wryly. "Plus my eating habits have been less than stellar lately. Something else I should probably work on."

"Junk food does have its place", Kurt answered placidly. "But every other meal is not it."

"With me, it's been forgetting to eat," Scott confessed. "Or just not feeling like it... the radiation poisoning had my stomach a bit touchy for a few weeks there."

A flash of worry came into Kurt's eyes, then. "Not eating because you are sick is one thing. But that has passed now, surely? Forgetting to eat is not good, as I am sure you know."

Scott sighed. "Kurt, I'm just... preoccupied a lot. Doesn't occur to me to eat unless I walk past the kitchen."

"Then perhaps I will have to ask someone to bring you food, if you will not", Kurt said stubbornly. "Or do it myself."

Scott leaned back in the booth, unable to help a faint smile. "I'm not going to win here, am I?"

"If winning means your friends allowing you to starve yourself and run yourself into the ground, then no."

"Kurt, I'm not doing either." Well, he wasn't doing the latter anymore. Not really. "I've been delegating, and I'm going to continue to delegate - " However much it stung, " - so you don't need to worry." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I suppose I'm just a little off-balance still. It's been a long summer."

Kurt nodded, understanding, and raised his glass. "Here is to things going better from now on."

"I'll drink to that," Scott said immediately, touching his glass to Kurt's.