Nathan and Amanda, Sunday morning

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Amanda goes to visit Nathan, who's back in his suite and trying to come to terms with not being able to see. Amanda wins major points by offering to read his final exams to him. Bella cackles and adds her two cents' worth, as usual.


Damn it. Nathan grimaced a bit as he felt along the nighttable, his fingers very definitely not coming into contact with the familiar shape of the television remote. Sure, he couldn't actually watch it, but damn it, he'd like to listen to the damned news, maybe... but it wasn't there. Leaning back against the pillows, he winced at the way his head spun, just from moving around that little bit. Oh, this was getting just annoying.

He breathed a little too deeply - and froze, wrestling with the tickle in the back of his throat. No more fucking coughing. He stayed very still until he mastered it, scrapping the idea of sitting up and groping along the other side of the nighttable.

"Naaaate?" he heard Bella coo from somewhere to his left - the armchair?

"Just... looking for the remote, feathers," he rasped. "You don't see it, do you?"

"Teeeveee?"

"Yeah. Teevee."

"Lookin' for this?" came Amanda's voice from the doorway, and shortly after she was pressing the remote into his groping hand. "Sorry I didn't knock - door was open an' I overheard," she said, sitting on the side of the bed.

Nathan managed not to jump at her voice, and even a smile as she placed the remote in his hand. "Damned telepathy's still off," he said hoarsely. "Hey... you sound better?"

"Been sleepin' every five minutes - doin' my best imitation of you when you got here," she said, patting his hand.

Over in the chair, Bella squawked and half-hopped, half-flapped her way over to the bed. "'Manda! Pretty! Nate!"

Bird on bed. He felt the added weight. It was amazing just how much you could figure out about your surroundings, even when you couldn't see them. He knew better than to think he'd be quite this sanguine in a crowd, though.

"Haven't been too lively myself," he said, his voice cracking and wobbling. Yeah, that was getting more than exasperating. "Moira's actually letting me take some painkillers now that the virus has settled and I don't need so much of the drug cocktail. They've got me pretty dopey at times..."

"An' there's a difference from normal?" Amanda teased gently, as Bella crawled into her lap, cooing gently. The witch pulled some celery sticks out of her pocket and started feeding them to the parrot as she looked Nathan over. He looked better, but still sick. And the fact he wasn't focussing exactly on her was a touch unnerving. "Magic's still out, but Strange reckons it'll only be a few more days 'fore I recharge properly. Just hope no-one needs anythin' in the meantime." Her hand tightened a little apologetically on his.

He squeezed her hand firmly, hoping she didn't notice the slight tremor. "Don't worry about that," he said huskily. "You did more than anyone could've expected, with Cain... you're due some downtime."

"I know, just wish I could help you... hate seein' you sick, you know that." There was regret but not the usual self-hatred in her voice - Amanda was learning that limits didn't mean she was a bad person. "They're lookin' at cuttin' back how much healin' I do down in the labs, any way. Usin' me for the big stuff only."

Saying 'Long past due' would be thoroughly inappropriate, Nathan told himself. Especially given how often he'd benefited from Amanda's healing spells - although generally, it had been for big stuff, he thought rueful. What a year this one had been...

"I'm getting better by the day here, mi'caehla," he pointed out, his voice a bit steadier. "Like Maddie says, I've got the constitution of a horse."

Amanda didn't say "'cause you need it", preferring to concentrate on feeding Bella for a few moments. "Yer lookin' better," she said. "Must be bein' out of medlab."

"It's good to be back in my own bed," he said, then smiled crookedly. "Sleeping better when Moira's here, too. Plus I know the room..." He trailed off, a bit forlornly. "Well. You know what I mean."

"Yeah." Her hand tightened on his reassuringly. "It'll come back," she said, utter conviction in her voice. "An' until it does, well, yer got yer seein' eye witch here when Moira's busy. Ain' like I can do any of the usual magic study at the mo', so I've got all this time t' fill."

"It bugs me not to be able to read, you know," Nathan muttered a bit uneasily. "Not to be able to mark the final exams..."

"I... I might be able t' help?" Amanda suggested. " I could read you the answers, you tell me if they're right or not. Dunno 'bout your International Relations class, the words might be a bit hard, but still, I'd be gettin' practice readin' as well, yeah?"

"You... could," Nathan said hesitantly, a smile tugging at his lips. "That would really work, you know... I could actually get them done." He brightened at the thought, completely unaware of how clearly his emotions were coming across in his expression.

"Well, like I said, ain't like 'm strapped for time. An' I'd like the practice. Got finals comin' up meself, tho' they've given me soe extra time on account of brain strain an' all." She smiled at the brightening of his expression - Nate schooled himself so carefully most of the time.

"Smart! 'Manda smart!" Bella piped up gleefully and nibbled on her fingers happily.

"Smart? Never mind smart, feathers, she's an absolute saint. Offering to mark for me..." Nathan grinned suddenly, one of the first purely happy smiles he'd managed in days. "We can laugh at bloopers together."

"Would it be mean an' petty of me t' laugh if Lee gets the Mandarin characters for 'education' an' 'small barkin' dog' mixed up again?" Amanda asked innocently, smiling as well - this reminded her of the road trip after Vegas, it really did.

"It's a rule," Nathan told her gravely. "Laughing at bloopers is one of the things teachers get to do, in compensation for how fucking miserable marking is most of the time. There's nothing mean about it."

"I like the sound of that - maybe I should consider teachin' as a job?" Amanda suggested, not at all serious. "I'm a good shot with a piece of chalk."

"Come on," Nathan mocked her lightly. "I only pinged the chalk off Jubilee's head once."

"Was thinkin' more 'bout me whole public school career, but there is that, yeah." Amanda snickered. The expression on Jubilee's face had been priceless. "When d'you want t' start on this markin' thing? When yer a bit stronger?"

"Marking! Fuck!" Bella squealed gleefully.

"Uhh... sounds like a plan," Nathan said a bit helplessly. "Especially if you're still dozing off... I don't want to wear you out either." Bella was giggling now, and he looked in the direction of the sound, managing a mock-glower. "And what is so funny?"

"Silly! Silly Nate, silly," Bella proclaimed, flapping her wings.

Amanda was still laughing at the first outburst, and the second reduced her into helpless giggles, Bella clambering off her lap and advancing on Nathan, still calling him silly. "Sounds like she enjoys it too," Amanda managed between giggles. Ow, her sides hurt.

"She helps, you know. Picks the really good papers... or the bad papers. Depends on the mood she's in." It was so good to hear Amanda laughing, Nathan thought with a smile, and jumped a bit as Bella nipped at his fingers, then ducked her head under his hand like a cat. "We've disturbing Moira a number of times, laughing maniacally together at papers..."

"Well, the two of you can be disturbin' enough without the scary laughter..." Amanda smiled at the sight of them together.

"Tell me something?" Nathan asked after a moment. "What's the weather like out there today? I know it's got to be cool... I could feel it through the window while I was up earlier."

"'S snowin' a bit," she said, glancing towards the window. "Cold as... 's very cold," she amended, deciding to restrain herself from colourful metaphor for a change. "A few more days of this an' there'll be enough snow t' throw at people."

"Remind me to stay inside, then. The blind man would probably make too tempting a target." Bella crawled up onto the pillows, settling down, and he sighed. "I think I'll stay right here," he said. "Don't know how easily I could get around elsewhere in the house."

"Well, 's not like yer lungs're in any state for you t' do much more 'n stay put as it is," Amanda pointed out, but with sympathy - she'd been laid up in bed often enough lately to hate being stuck. "An' when you are ready t' be up an' about, well, there's gunna be a few of us willin' t' lead the blind man anywhere he wants t' go."

There was an entirely different sort of tightness in his chest, then. Not an unpleasant one, either. "People keep telling me things like that," Nathan said, and the state of his throat wasn't the reason for the wobble in his voice this time. He smiled. "And I've got to be making progress, because I don't have to work too hard to believe it..."

"Oh good. 'Cause I was gunna have t' start hittin' you with Moira's koosh balls if you didn't start." Nudging Bella gently over a little, Amanda curled up on the bed beside him, tiredness making itself felt. Damn attack naps.

Nathan smiled as he felt her shift around and then go quiet. "I think she's fallen asleep on us, feathers," he confided quietly to Bella, who made a much softer-than-usual trilling noise. "That's okay, though, isn't it?"

"Sleeeeeep," Bella insisted, almost sotto voce.

"Yes, ma'am," Nathan murmured and closed his eyes.