xp_logs | Madelyn, Kurt - Tuesday night/Wednesday morning

OOC: Slightly early, I know, but this one's burning a hole in my hard drive. Besides, it's gone quiet this evening... *grins* Phear Teh Cute!

Inertia's a bitch. Hank may be back, but Madelyn's having trouble stopping driving herself too far. When she falls asleep at her desk, Kurt takes it upon himself to remedy the situation. There is cute.

She should be in bed. Hank was back, and taking matters in hand, calling colleagues, crunching numbers, working on ways and means of helping Alison… So why was she still down here?

Because there had to be something she could do, that was why. Something they'd missed, some way of reversing the overload and its effects, some way of avoiding the dire health predictions Moira's studies had come up with… Because Alison was her friend, and she had to do something to help that friend.

Madelyn stared unseeingly at the latest results, eyes refusing to focus. Her office was a jumble of dirty plates, discarded clothes and what seemed to be an entire library of textbooks, the desklamp casting a warm yellow pool of light in the otherwise-darkened room. So tired. So very tired. Heedless of the reading glasses still on her nose, Madelyn lay her head on her arms, closing her eyes. Just a second's rest, and then she'd be back at it.

About twenty minutes later, Kurt came down for one of his regular - and frequent - visits to check on both Alison and Madelyn. Seeing no one in the main room, he made his way quietly into Madelyn's office, and stopped in the doorway at the sight of her, fast asleep with her head on the desk.

His first impulse was to wake her and insist she go to get some real rest in her room, but that was quickly suppressed - if she woke up now, she'd be back to work and refusing to let herself sleep again. So, instead, he walked quietly to her side and gathered her up gently from the chair, preparing to teleport to her suite.

Madelyn made a mumbled protest, not really waking up, and snuggled her head into his shoulder, as she would a pillow. "Gnfmrhnarg," she said, before settling down again.

Kurt took the time to settle her more comfortably in his arms before bamfing, and the next moment they were standing in the common area of her suite. Fortunately, the bedroom door he took to be hers was standing a little open, and he nudged it wider with his shoulder, carrying her into the room.

The sensation of teleporting vaguely registered, and Madelyn stirred a little, but not enough to actually wake up, instead latching onto his shirt with one hand. Snorting once or twice - not quite a snore, but close - she settled back into sleep again.

Kurt moved to the side of the bed and bent to lay her down on it, moving slowly and carefully so as not to wake her. Then he set about gently trying to prise her hand off his shirt, intending to leave her to sleep in peace.

Madelyn made an incoherent noise of protest and tightened her grip, pulling him down almost like she was pulling a blanket over herself. Another noise very much like a whimper, and she mumbled something that was largely gibberish, but in which Alison's name was audible.

Kurt's eyes widened, startled, and he just barely avoided toppling when she pulled him down. After a moment's thought, however, he decided that since she clearly didn't want to let go, the next best thing he could do was to go with it. Trying not to disturb her, he lay down carefully on the bed, wrapping his arms around her reassuringly.

It was obviously what she wanted, even asleep - Madelyn relaxed into the embrace with a small sigh, hand still holding firmly onto his shirt. For the first time in days, the tension actually left her face. Madelyn slept.

***

Morning. Madelyn half-groaned as she realised that she'd obviously fallen asleep in her clothes again. Shoes too. Strange that she didn't remember leaving the medlab and stumbling to bed. She must have been really tired...

There were arms around her. And a slight rumble in her ear, and a tickle that could only be someone's breath and was that a tail wrapped around her waist? Madelyn cracked open her eyes and realised that the arm around her was indeed blue, ridged with scarring, and that there was indeed a tail wrapped around her in what was actually a rather comforting way. Then the import struck her and she stiffened, trying to remember just how it was Kurt had ended up in her bed and being oddly disappointed when none of it seemed to include extreme drunkeness and/or naked fun. Definitely no naked fun when she still had her clothes on. Carefully she started to try and wriggle out of his embrace without waking him up. If he didn't wake up, then he wouldn't necessarily know he'd been sleeping with her and they could pretend the whole thing had never happened. And oh God her face was flaming with embarrassment. What had she done?

Unfortunately for Madelyn, Kurt hadn't actually been asleep - dozing, perhaps, but no more than that. As she tried to extricate herself, he stirred and opened his eyes. "Good morning..."

"Um... morning." Madelyn stopped trying to escape, because that was too easily turning into a squirm of embarrassment. And she was too old for squirming. Instead she tried for humour. "Sleep well?"

He grinned, amused, and proceeded to tell a small white lie. "Very well. And I know you did."

He was grinning at her. Grinning. That didn't bode well in the whole 'perfectly innocent explanation' scheme of things. "So, um... come here often?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realised what she'd said and the blush deepened to crimson. "I didn't just say that..." she muttered, trying to bury her head in the pillow but finding there was another arm under her neck and so she ended up hiding her face against warm blue skin. "Please tell me there's a completely non-sleazy explanation for this," she asked, muffled, only one very red ear visible.

He took pity on her. "There is, honestly. I was only teasing. I found you sleeping in your office and brought you back here, and you... would not let go of my shirt. You were still asleep and I did not want to wake you, so I stayed."

"So, not sleazy only horribly pathetic..." Madelyn muttered, pulling her face out before she suffocated herself. "Thank you. The last time I fell asleep on my desk all night I ended up needing to go to the chiropractor for the crick in my neck." With a sigh she brushed the hair that escaped her ponytail away from her face and closed her eyes. "What's the time?"

Kurt extricated his left arm carefully to look at his watch. "Just
before nine o'clock."

"Nine? Shit, I have to get back down there. Hank and Moira need me..." Madelyn began to try and get up again, despite the fact she was still bone tired, but Kurt's tail held her fast. "Um, Kurt? Your tail?"

"They know where you are if they need you", he pointed out patiently. "And they have your pager number. You need your sleep, Madelyn."

He had Resolve Face. And the advantage of an extra limb, and besides, using your FBI training on your friends was not a nice thing to do, considering all the hand-to-hand she knew was nasty stuff indeed. She was not going anywhere anytime soon.

Besides, it wasn't as if she was being of much help to Alison lately. The thought made her wince, and she hid her face again for a moment so he wouldn't see her tearing up.

"Fine," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow but the weariness and defeat still coming through. She was still for a moment after that, and just as Kurt was starting to wonder if she'd fallen asleep again, she pulled her face out of the pillow and looked up at him almost beseechingly. "Stay with me? Just until I drop off again? I... I could do with a hug."

He nodded, looking down at her with compassion and wrapping his arms around her again unhesitatingly. "I will stay as long as you want me here, my friend. Until you wake up again, if you like."

"That could be a while," Madelyn said with a wry smile, even as she wriggled into a more comfortable position, resting her forehead on his chest. Kurt smelled good, she realised vaguely. And he was very good at the hugging thing. "Just until I go back to sleep again's all right - you probably have stuff that needs doing. Like classes." A thought occurred to her. "Just as well you're a teleporter. Explaining why you're coming out of my room first thing in the morning in the same clothes you were wearing last night... That could be awkward."

Kurt smiled softly, eyes full of affection as he looked down at her. He didn't point out that it would be near-impossible for him to move without waking her, and straight out impossible for him to teleport without her, the way they were lying. "I have no classes this
morning. I will be here when you wake up."

"You're a good friend," Madelyn said, eyes closing as his body heat and the soothing feel of arms (and tail!) around her began to lull her back to sleep. "A real sweetheart. Even if you are one of those scary morning people."

"I do what I can", he answered quietly. "This is what you needed.
Sleep well, now."

There were a lot of things she needed, a cure for Alison not the least of them. But this would do for now. "Night," she murmured, already drifting off again. Apparently of its own accord, her hand latched onto his shirt again, and then, as if satisfied he wasn't going anywhere, she relaxed and slept.

Kurt had absolutely no intention of going anywhere. Not being sleepy himself (tired, yes, but not even close to falling asleep at this point), he simply leaned back against the pillows, drifting into thought as he watched over her.