xp_logs | Amanda, Moira - Wednesday morning

Amanda brings Moira food and tea, and they chat. Your basic harmless fluff, really...

It was tricky, balancing the tray and trying to knock on the door to Moira's office, but Amanda was determined not to use magic as a cheat. Especially not after yesterday's necessary use of the healing spell. So she thunked her forehead lightly on the door, belatedly remembering she'd headbutted a Brood drone not that long ago. "Tea's up!" she called.

Looking up from the pile of paperwork--this was punishment for her going away--Moira beamed. It had been too long since she'd seen Amanda. Hell, it'd been too long since she'd been back. "Open!" she called, pushing away from the desk and the mountain range that had become her work area.

"Um, can you get the door? Hands're sort of full," Amanda called back, angling the tray back to level as things threatened to slide off. She hadn't known what Moira was wanting, so she'd made sandwiches and snagged some of the raspberry-chocolate chip cookie that had appeared, and some fruit as well. Plus two large steaming mugs of tea.

Heading over, she quickly opened the door and ushered Amanda in. "I think there's some free space on th' table next ta th' couch," she commented, peering over her shoulder. Turning, she wasn't surprised by the fact that as soon as the young woman's hands were free, Moira found herself in a hug. "Miss me?"

"Nope, 'm actually a pod person an' I'm tryin' t' absorb you into our evil collective," Amanda said with a grin, pulling back a bit so she could look Moira over. She looked well. Tired, but well. And yes, there was definitely a bump there... "'S good t' see you, even if it had t' be another emergency that got you back here."

Keeping an arm around Amanda's shoulders, she headed towards the couch. And, more importantly, the food. "Aye. 'opefully I'll get a replacement for Rory so I can come back for good. Henry's 'elping me look, so tha's a relief off me shoulders. 'ow was New Orleans?"

"It was... interestin'. Confusin'. Plus there was the usual life-or-death emergency, but it wouldn't be a holiday without that. Remy said he'd spoken t' you 'bout that?" Amanda didn't _actually_ help Moira sit, but there was a certain element of guiding her down.

"Aye, glad everythin' turned out alright. An' ye an' Angie look like ye came out okay in tha'. Which was my first question when Remy called me up--thought somethin' 'ad 'appened ta th' two o' ye." If Moira had noticed the extra help on the way down, she didn't comment on it. Instead, she reached out with glee and grabbed one of the cookies. "Glad ta be back?"

Amanda nodded. "It's a madhouse, but it's my madhouse now, so yeah. An' 's good t' see everyone again. 'Specially Manuel." A slightly goofy smile appeared, and she reached for her tea to cover it. "But we done all right, Angie an' me. Tante helped her a lot."

"Good, I'm goin' ta grab 'er before I leave an' give 'er a once over. Brin' out 'er favorite wee machine an' all." Moira looked her over. "'ow're ye doin' wit' 'avin' th' 'ealin' stuff bein' back off?"

Amanda shrugged. "Well, 'm upright an' I don't have a killer headache this mornin', even with a medlab full of people," she pointed out. "An' Forge tweakin' the spell the way he did helped a lot too - head injuries're hard t' fix. So I s'pose I can't complain. Tante'd probably have somethin' t' say about usin' the magic an' responsibility an' the price an' all, but I really couldn't see another option. 'Specially with you three needin' me t' do it."

Moira nodded and then put her cup down. "I know ye fairly well by now," she said, smiling. "So I can guess tha' yer nay one 'undred percent 'appy because ye want ta be 'elpful. Think I've got a solution for ye. Obviously, I'm goin' ta be gettin' a wee bit bigger than I am now." Her expression was deadpan. "After a while, I'm goin' ta need kind o' a personal assistant around in th' MedLab so I dinnae 'ave ta stop workin'. Would ye be up for doin' tha' for me?"

"Um, sure." Amanda hadn't considered she'd be useful without the magic, and Moira was right, she wasn't happy about the healing ban, even with the lack of fatigue. "'M not sure how useful I can be... Sure you don't want Rahne? She's better with the science stuff an' all."

"Yer still officially part o' th' Medical staff," Moira pointed out gently. "Even without magic. I'll probably use Rahne for some o' th' experiments but for th' most part, I think ye'd get more out o' it." Amanda really needed to be able to see that she had uses other than magic and to hone those skills under Moira's watchful eye was the perfect way to do it.

"Well, if you don't mind me bumblin' 'round you, yeah, I'd like that," Amanda said, with a much less hesitant smile this time. She looked down at Moira's stomach, where she was starting to show. "How's things goin' baby-wise? Both of you feelin' all right?"

"O' course I dinnae mind. Ye'll jus' 'ave ta put up wit' _me_." Looking down at her stomach, she smiled. "We're fine, though th' trip over 'ere was nay so kind on me stomach. But I've been eatin' an' restin'. Th' wee one's a little on th' small side but so was Kevin, so I'm nay really all tha' surprised."

"I put up with Pete an' Nate an' Manuel all the time - I don't think you can out-cranky them," Amanda said with a small snort. "An' good, that you've been lookin' after yourself. Since we haven't been able t' help..." She paused, thinking. "I haven't really had a chance t' talk t' you since New Years," she said, sounding almost surprised. "What with bein' in Germany, an' then you goin' t' Muir..."

"'Tis been a lon' time," Moira agreed, surprised as well at how long it had been. "Unfortunately. I've missed ye, ye know. Times like this, I wish Muir were stationed off of New York an' nay th' tip part o' Scotland. Ta far away from th' ones I care about, for th' most part."

"I was worried for a while that you didn't want t' see me. After... whatever She did to you," Amanda admitted. "Nate told me you two were just too busy." She chuckled a little. "He offered t' buy me a pony as an apology, an' then got al worried when he thought I took him seriously. Silly man."

Reaching over, Moira pulled Amanda in for a hug and breathed out. "Ach, nay! I knew tha' wasnae ye, love, nay after th' clues were dropped. There's nay much tha'll make me want ta avoid ye, understand tha'?" Mentally she kicked herself. She should have known that her absence would weigh on Amanda's mind. "A pony, huh?"

"I know. Stupid insecure moment - She did her best t' fuck up everythin' I care about, an' I was worried it had worked. But only for a little while - gettin' that email before Columbia helped." Amanda leaned her head briefly on Moira's shoulder. "An' yeah, it seemed like one of those Dad sort of things t' do." She snickered. "I have t' admit, I did work on the guilt thing, just a bit, since he didn't answer my emails."

As much as she loved being at Muir and the people there, she missed the physical contact with the people at the Mansion the most, she realized. "She tried but failed miserably," she said, softly. "Ye're so much stronger than she was probably expectin', dinnae count on yer 'ost o' friends an' family tha' care 'bout ye either. Stupid move on 'er part." Snickering slightly at the part about Nathan, Moira grinned. "Got 'im good on tha', did ye?"

"She was makin' trouble for the sake of it, I think," Amanda said. "Distractin' us from Manuel. Still, it all turned out all right in the end - she got sent home with her arse well an' truly kicked." She snuggled up to Moira slightly, enjoying the closeness, and sensing Moira needed it too. "Just a bit. Used what Angie called the puppy eyes of doom on him when I got back... He's goin' t' be all right? From what I heard yesterday, it was a pretty big boom."

"Good riddance ta bad rubbish, then," Moira said firmly, leaning her head against Amanda's. "An' aye, me big lug will be jus' fine after some rest. 'e strained 'imself more than anythin' an' jus' needs some time ta rest. Th' body will do tha' after ta many shocks, will close down for a while ta recooperate."

"Been there, done that, got the medlab time t' prove it," Amanda agreed with a grin. "I was worried, when I found out it was Mistra; he was so fucked up over the Columbia thing, Moira, an' I didn't help. I was worried he was goin' out there t' prove somethin', 'til I got the whole story 'bout it bein' a rescue mission only until the team showed up."

"Thankfully, I believe Nathan's past all tha' needin' ta prove somethin'." Hopefully and she made a mental note to thank Alison and Scott for a few things. "But I 'eard ye did verra well durin' tha' speech, am verra proud o' ye for doin' tha'."

"Well, no-one tried t' shoot me, an' a few seemed t' listen," Amanda said, sipping at her tea and contemplating the cookie plate. "Hope it was worth breakin' Nate's brain." She didn't sound too sure - she'd seen replays of the speech, and realised there were certain parts Nathan would have taken very badly. Like the bit about choice. She'd been aiming at those who had created Mistra, but it hadn't come out the way she intended.

"I think 'twas a shock ta 'im, I dinnae think he'd really realized 'ow much Mistra affected 'im. Maybe doin' wha' ye did was an eyeopener for 'im, one tha' 'e rather sorely needed. Dinnae worry, Amanda, ye did th' right thin', which is usually never th' easy thin'."

"I hope so. It didn't come out right, some of it. I haven't really talked t' him 'bout it - didn't have the chance, bein' whisked off t' New Orleans an' without a phone, an' now he's out of it again..." She frowned a little. "He don't agree with me, but that day... some of 'em didn't seem like they were just doin' what they were told t' do. Some of 'em wanted t' kill as many people as they could. An' I couldn't see how that worked for Mistra any way - I mean, it was started by humans, t' use mutants as weapons, protect the country, whatever. So killin' that many innocents, even t' make Nate surrender... it don't make sense."

"I've known Nathan for a good many years now. 'e can be right down pig 'eaded 'bout somethin', especially if'n 'e's terrified o' somethin'." Moira watched Amanda for a second. She really was worried about what Nathan thought, which wasn't that much of a surprise. "Trust me, Nathan's nay goin' ta blow ye off because ye two dinnae agree on somethin', even somethin' this important. God knows if 'e did, we wouldnae been friends for a week, let alone be settin' ourselves ta get married. An' I think ye're right, 'bout Mistra. There was somethin' goin' on there tha' was out o' synch."

Amanda gave Moira a small, wry smile. "I s'pose. Doesn't help we're both as stubborn as each other. Explains why we get on, maybe." She poked Moira gently. "Eat. There's bacon an' ranch dressin' sandwiches there."

Moira's eyes lit up. "Ohhh, exactly wha' th' cravin' is callin' for." The sandwiches were calling out her name and she reached for one, giving Amanda a look. "Ye? Stubborn? Oh, never."

Amanda laughed out loud, stealing a cookie from the plate while Moira was distracted by the sandwich. "Like you're not either," she pointed out. "Mind you, I think it's compulsory t' live here for any length of time."

Taking care to swallow before speaking, she nodded. "If ye cannae outbull 'ead someone in th' mansion, charm th' 'ell out o' them. I think 'tis th' only way ta survive."

"Good thing I'm cute as well as stubborn, eh?" Amanda replied with a cheeky grin.

Snickering, Moira reached out and poked Amanda very lightly in the ribs. "Smart mout'," Moira responded cheerfully.