xp_logs | Hank, Madelyn, and Alison. Sunday Morning (Reply)

Sunday morning, Hank is hung-over and still feeling sorry for himself. Both Alison and Madelyn come up to bring him restoratives and tell him that everything's going to be okay. The reassurance and support helps a lot more than the coffee and Advil.

Hank had sneaked upstairs from Maddie's office when he woke up, with a deep and fervent desire for his own toothbrush and a change of clothes. Having brushed his teeth and washed and changed quickly, he was trying to work his coffee-maker with the absolute minimum of noise. His head was definitely achy, and sleeping on Madelyn's couch had made sure that the rest of him matched. It was comfortable, but not wide enough.

He looked up at the tap on his door, not sure who it would be. Madelyn? Coming to see if he'd recovered? He hoped not. Some of the things he'd said last night... well, he definitely wished now that he hadn't. The last thing he wanted from her was pity, and he was probably stuck with it now. "Who is it?" he called, voice a little hoarser than usual.

"Hey in there," she replied from the other side of the door, frowning a bit at the sound of his voice. This was not happy dippy had a good date Hank. Not one bit. Okay, the first opening lines involving giggly details was going right out the window and then some. "I'm thinking that coffee I brought up with me was a good idea..." She let the words trail off temptingly, listening for the sound of his footsteps should he decide to open the door for her.

Oh. Alison. Right. She'd known about the date, and presumably wanted to know how it had gone. He headed over to open the door, giving her a lopsided little smile. "Coffee sounds wonderful. Maybe it will make the hangover go away." He hadn't thought he'd drunk that much... still. He hadn't really been paying attention.

Hangover? After a moment, Alison realised that she hasn't spoken the word outloud and felt grateful for it. Solemnly, she raised the hand holding the mugs as though it were a guarantee of entry, and when he gave her room to walk in, pretended not to be looking him over too much to gauge his condition, instead making her way to the kitchenette in his suite to place the mugs on the counter and pour the coffee. "Get the milk and sugar while I do this?" she suggested over her shoulder, to give him something to do. And not inquire about the 'hungover' comment just yet.

"Sure." Hank ambled over to the fridge, moving a little more gently than he usually did to accomodate his pounding head. "It... didn't go well," he admitted, when his head was in the fridge... nice and cool in here... and she couldn't see his face. "Again." It never did. Ever since he changed... well. Trish had been the worst, but not the only one. Sooner or later, every woman he got involved with got... nervous. Fearful of what he could do, if he chose...

He was, Alison thought with a sad smile on her face as she turned to look over her shoulder, hiding in the fridge. She shook her head a bit but left him to it, his voice giving away everything really, and finished pouring out the coffee instead. Turning around she leaned on the small counter, a touch larger compared to mosts suits ni consideration of Hank's size, she imagined, and sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that," was all she could say at first, though when he finally got out of the fridge she did plan on adding a hug to that.

Hank reluctantly pulled his head out of the nice cool fridge, having found no fewer than four cartons of milk, and made sure that at least one was still good. He put that one on the counter and managed a small, sad smile. "So was I. I should be used to it, by now."

"It's not something anyone ever gets used to," Alison murmured, stepping forward to hug him, just as she'd meant to do. She remained quiet for a while, wishing there were some way, any way, to smooth this along for him and knowing only too well that there wasn't. In more ways than one.

He returned the hug, relaxing a little. "I never should have let you get away," he said mournfully. "That, I see now, was my biggest mistake... realized too late, of course." He heaved an exaggeratedly tragic sigh. "I shall have to spend the rest of my life a lonely bachelor, pining for what might have been, and leave Miles a fortune that you might know I always cared."

She smiled at that a bit, still holding on. Hank was one of those people who didn't mind a hug lasting longer than most would tolerate. The letting go comment she left untouched, old fears and new ones being only too likely to show through if she tried to answer that, she knew. "There's someone for you out there," Alison murmured reassuringly, able to say that without the shadow of a doubt coloring her voice. "No pining for you. Even if I have to start matchmaking for you."

He smoothed her hair gently. "I think I've been put off dating for a while," he said softly. "I'm starting to think maybe it's not for me." He sighed, and smiled down at her. "Still, I do have you. A good friend who knows all your secrets and loves you anyway can be better than any fleeting romance."

She remebered only too well all the times he'd been there for her, after they'd stopped dating. And how he'd reached out to her for help as well, without any shame at all. "You know... we're kinda lucky there, aren't we? Not everyone can say they've had a friendship in their lives that's lasted years and has always been rock steady, too."

"We're very lucky," he said seriously. "I wouldn't give up your friendship for the world... and, as much as I joke about it, I don't think our relationship would have been as stable if we'd remained romantically involved. This way, we'll always have each other... and, with luck, romance as well." He smiled down at her. "Of course, should Haroun ever hurt you, I shall be bound by the code of the Close Male Friends to thump him. Repeatedly."

It had already slipped into frienship before they'd both decided to be honest about it, she knew only too well. She hid the bittersweet at that, the fear of it happening yet again, and nodded instead, before stealing a quick look at the coffee. "It is getting cold. That is unforgiveable." Winking, she reached over to hand him a mug, before leaning on the counter with her own, after adding a spot of milk. "But he likes getting into fights," she pointed out, lips quirking just a bit. "You may want to stick to the really ultra cold medical instruments."

Hank took the coffee. "Those too. I assure you, having something icy cold suddenly inserted into the ear comes as quite a shock." He reached out to touch her cheek gently. "I'm very proud of you, you know," he said softly. "Holding on through everything you've been through... caring for Miles, and risking love again. And on top of all that, gaining your shiny tokens of command..." He grinned. "Do you know, I've never even been offered an XO spot? I think that for some reason my insistance on a field-marshal's baton and a Hat of Office gives the impression that I wouldn't take the responsibility seriously."

There were still a few things Alison herself was having problems with, and having so many put under a positive light in Hank's inimitable way was a surefire way to tighten her throat so much she couldn't talk. Taking a swallow of the coffee was one way to hide that, but after a moment she offered him a smile. "Thank you." She couldn't pretend and go on, not that. "And... I see it as a sanity thing, myself. You're good at picking up people who overwork, in the command teams. Setting you up to do that too means we lose you whapping us upside the head and sending us on vacation." She wasn't kidding at all, as she said that.

Hank laughed. "It might have something to do with the fact that I have no desire for command, too, and no real aptitude for it. My training as a doctor doesn't lend itself to a willingness to make sacrifices." He reached out to pat Alison's shoulder. "I do, however, get to be one of the only people who can give the team leaders orders," he said a little smugly. "Like my irascible namesake on Star Trek, I'm one of the few who can order the Captain, so to speak, off the bridge. That's a command of a sort, although I rarely have to use it."

Though she had been planning to ask him about his evening, seeing Hank instead distracted from it all and smiling meant she wasn't about to bring it up just yet. Grinning at him, she topped off her mug from the thermos she'd carried in and offered him some more as well. "You know, I'll just be waiting for you to come up with one of those 'I'm a doctor, not a plumber' lines at one point." She paused. "Or something far more clever than plumber."

Hank laughed. "Damnit, Scott, I'm a doctor, not a mechanic!" he said, doing his best imitation of the Southern McCoy's accent.

Alison laughed, never tiring of the rendition. She had a bit more time to spare before she and Nathan would go off to pick up a Very Big Television (tm) for Cain, and things had already been arranged to cover her brief absence from the mansion that morning. Staying here and keeping Hank company until she had to go seemed like a rather good idea to her.

* * *

She knew Hank had gone back upstairs at some point, and he hadn't been seen again, so Madelyn was guessing he was probably hiding. Asking Rahne to watch over Dani, still sleeping peacefully in the Box, she went up to his room, stopping in the kitchen on the way for the largest glass of juice she could find, a bottle of Advil in the pocket of her lab coat. Tapping gently on the door, she called out: "Hank? You up?"

Hank considered answering 'no', but Maddie was too clever to fall for a trick like that. He sighed, heading for the door. He really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. Specifically, he REALLY didn't want to talk to Madelyn. He was fairly sure he'd made quite the fool of himself last night, and... well. Maddie was about the last person in the world he wanted to see him as an object of pity. But he couldn't be rude to her, either. "Good morning," he said, as cheerfully as he could. "I'm up, mostly, although still somewhat hung over."

"I thought you might be, which is why I come bearing juice and Advil," Madelyn said, her tone and manner as open and friendly as always. She'd had a feeling Hank would be embarrassed about last night, which was all the more reason to let him know nothing had changed. "Got a minute?"

"Of course." He stepped back, waving her into the room. Neat, thank goodness, although the same couldn't be said for him. He was wearing his old, baggy grey Xavier's sweatpants, which were his comfort clothes, and he knew his hair and fur were much untidier than usual. His headache had precluded much use of the blowdrier, which shrieked much too much. "I do appreciate both juice and painkiller, believe me."

"You look like you need it," she said with a smile, shooing him over to the couch before handing him the juice. "I hope my couch wasn't too bad for your back," she went on, fishing in her pocket for the Advil. "You must have slipped out while I was checking on Dani."

"I had a desperate and fervent yearning for my toothbrush," Hank admitted, smiling ruefully and accepting the juice. He sipped it and sighed. Mm. Sugar. "And my back and shoulders are a little unhappy with me, but not as much as they would have been if I'd dozed off at my desk."

"Well, I was tempted to wake Clarice up and have her 'port you to your own bed, but I figured you wouldn't appreciate having the school's chief gossip-spreader knowing you weren't feeling up to scratch..." Sitting down next to him, Madelyn tipped four pills from the bottle of Advil into her palm and offered them to him. "Here."

"Thank you." He took them and swallowed all four at once with a gulp of juice. "I really didn't think I drank that much... still. I wasn't really paying attention." He glanced at her.... no sign of pity, but maybe just a shade too much Everyday Cheer in her expression. "I'm sorry you had to... well. Deal with that," he said quietly.

"Not a problem, Hank." Madelyn tucked the pill bottle back into her pocket and patted his shoulder. "Look, I'd rather not see you in that state - because it hurts you, not me - but it's not such an onerous task, dealing with you." She smiled a little. "You didn't throw up on my shoes, which is what happened the last time a friend of mine got horribly drunk."

Hank chuckled softly. "I very rarely throw up... it takes a great deal to upset my stomach. You're just fortunate I wasn't trying to get drunk on beer. I may not vomit, but I belch with astounding volume." He grinned sheepishly at her. "People have been known to flee screaming."

Madelyn laughed softly. "You could make a party trick of it - belch the national anthem, that sort of thing..." Expression becoming a little more serious, she asked: "Besides hungover, how are you feeling?"

"A little better. Alison came up to bring me coffee, a little while ago... she reminded me, as you did, that I'm hardly alone. I have friends who care for me, and who accept me as I am." He smiled at her, wanting to reach out and hug her but not quite sure it was a good idea. "It helps a great deal."

She caught the almost yearning expression on his face, and since she couldn't reach all the way around him, gave his arm a gentle hug. "That's what friends are for, Hank," she told him, smoothing down wayward fur with her other hand - it was tickling her face. "They help when you need it, same as you help us."

Hank beamed. That was VERY nice. Even if the whole 'friends' theme was being leaned on a bit and... well. He could live with that, although it wouldn't be his first choice.

Oh, and now was a wonderful time to finally truly realize THAT.

He covered her hand with his as it rested on his arm. "Absolutely," he said firmly. "And I'll always be here for you, should you need me. And should any scoundrel break your heart, I assure you I shall be happy to pummel him on your behalf."

"And deprive me of the fun of doing it?" Madelyn teased, before looking at her watch. "I should go back downstairs - Dani's still sleeping, on and off. I was thinking we'd keep her until Monday morning - she's still a bit shaky."

"And then a stern lecture." Hank nodded. "I appreciate that she's under a great deal of stress just now, but she's going to have to start controlling herself, if not her powers." He grinned. "And you see, I pummel him after you're done, just when he thinks he's safe. There's a whole team pummelling thing. And then when I'm done, Alison can kick him while he's down."

"It almost makes me feel sorry for this hypothetical cad," Madelyn said with a grin. "And yes, there's a lecture in the works - I've been practicing." She winked at him, and gave his arm another little squeeze. Come and relieve me at lunchtime? I want to catch some naptime before Superbowl. You _are_ still coming, aren't you?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." Hank smiled. "I expect hollering, however. From people besides me."

"Of course there shall be hollering. It's good therapy." Madelyn was relieved she wasn't going to have to bully him into coming - being social was a good thing, especially now. Hank needed his friends. "I'd better go - you'll be okay?"

"I always am." Hank smiled at her, trying to reassure her. Not wanting her to feel sorry for him. "Especially with two such lovely and considerate ladies coming to comfort me. I feel positively spoiled."

"You need it, sometimes." Madelyn patted his shoulder as she got up. "And you spoil us shamelessly."

There would be more spoiling in store, he resolved. He'd think of something special. "And who could resist?" He sipped his juice again. "Thank you," he said softly, when she reached the door. "For everything."

"Any time, Hank," she told him. "And I mean that."