xp_logs | Hank, Maddie, Thursday night

Backdated to Thursday night, Madelyn brings Hank his present. There's hugging all around, discussion of the job offer made by Fred Duncan and of Jubilee's traineeship, and a moment or two that would severely worry Kurt, if he'd seen it.

It had been tricky, getting Hank's gift back uncrushed, but she'd managed it by way of carry on. Now with the bag in hand, she headed down to Hank's office in medlab, another of those anticipatory grins on her face. Madelyn loved giving presents.

Hank was lying in wait... well, okay, he was rummaging in a cupboard, looking for the fruit jubes he'd stashed in there a while back, but he was rummaging while holding himself in a state of catlike readiness. As soon as Madelyn peeked into the office, she was pounced on and hugged. "Madelyn most fair, you have been missed!" he boomed happily, burying her in fur up to her chin. "Is that my present? I was promised a present."

Madelyn said something that was muffled by fur, and he released his hold slightly. "I said, it will be if you don't crush it." It was a good-natured admonishment, though, and she hugged him tightly back. "It's very good to see you too."

"I missed you," he said softly, allowing himself a brief touch of her cheek before taking the surprisingly light, oddly-shaped package. "And daylight. I missed daylight. I've been on nights since before you left..." He unwrapped the package and beamed. "A hat! A veritable hat!" He placed the white straw fedora on his head, at a rakish angle, and grinned at her. "How do I look?"

"As good as I thought you would," she said with an answering smile, her cheek tingling slightly from the touch. The fur tickled, she told herself. "And now I'm back, you can get some of that daylight you need so badly - I've got a bunch of work to catch up on with the taskforce, and nights give me that chance."

"I'll split the shifts," Hank agreed, "but you're not getting all of them. I don't want you fading away for lack of sunlight either. Week on, week off, perhaps? Long enough to adjust and get some sleep, but not so long that we don't see the sun now and then." He'd really meant to.... well... to come up with something to say to her, before she got back. With Dani's request, and the prospect of parenthood, he really should say something... but he had no idea how to begin, and again he put it off, hoping for a better time. "You look better, I think... not that you aren't always exquisite, but you have that 'I've had several consecutive hours of sleep and two or more meals for more than one or two days out of every seven' look about you now."

"Deal," she agreed easily - now she'd rediscovered the sun, she wasn't inclined to lose it, but she would if Hank needed the break. "And you forgot to mention, two functioning arms again." She demonstrated by hugging him again. "I'll still need the physical therapy, but I've got nearly full movement back, thanks to your surgery."

He returned the hug. "I've always been a big fan of full flexibility," he said, grinning impishly. "Perhaps the two of us can go elsewhere, at some later time, to explore your newly-rediscovered range of movement." He paused just long enough for pink to tinge her cheeks, and then grinned. "Our last sparring session went so well," he added smoothly. "Another would be very enjoyable... and although I wouldn't advise any solid punches as yet, you should be up to simple touch-sparring."

"Tease," she scolded him, slapping him lightly, still blushing a little. "But yes, sparring would be good - I've lost way too much conditioning and I'm going to have to work to get it back."

"I know the feeling. This job does come with regular setbacks." He grinned. She'd blushed. Blushing was a hopeful sign, wasn't it? "I'd be delighted to help you get back into shape - and I can promise you that I won't forget and push too hard, as I know some of our teammates are prone to do." There were very few people he could spar with safely without holding back to mere touches in place of blows, so he was well in the habit.

"Yes, it'll be a while before I'm in the shape to spar with Haroun again - he has trouble remembering when he's injured, let alone his partner." Hank really did look dashing in the hat, she thought with another smile - it was good to know her choices were turning out so well. "I'd appreciate the help - Andy had me taking it easy, but I managed a little bit of swimming when she wasn't watching me like a hawk. I swear, I thought she was going to kidnap me on the spot when I saw her in DC during my debriefing." She shook her head with an affectionate chuckle. "Then again, she always was like that, even in basic training."

"There is to be no kidnapping of you," Hank said firmly. "Because we would all have to come after you, and there would be chaos and disorder and people in funny clothes embarrassing you in front of your friends." Andy was a she. He had been SO relieved to find that out. "And swimming, too, is good. As one of your doctors, I will endorse swimming, as long as you don't overdo it, and as long as I get to see you in a bathing suit."

Interesting, that the subject of kidnapping come up... "Actually, that was something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, becoming more serious and taking a seat at his desk. "One of the things Andy and I talked about... Fred Duncan, my old boss, he's made me an offer."

Hank... blinked. "An offer? What kind of offer? If it's a scandalous one, you know I'm always available to defend your honour." He took the hat off, feeling less like playing around now. A lot less. "But no... a job offer, I presume. A good one?" Would she take it? She wouldn't just go, would she?

He was worried. He really was. She felt oddly comforted by that."Yes, a job offer. Not my old job back, but something better paying, more responsibility... he's been very impressed by my work with the taskforce, plus tracking down Infectia like that." With a small rueful smile, she went on. "Everything I ever wanted when I was in the Bureau, it's on offer to me."

"On offer." Hank nodded slowly. "By that, I infer, you have not yet made your decision regarding said offer. Do you intend to take it?" He turned the hat aimlessly, around and around between broad fingers. "We would all miss you a great deal, you know, if you left."

"I... I don't know yet," Madelyn said honestly. "I can't deny I'm tempted - you know how much I've been struggling with my role here. But... there's a lot of reasons to stay."

Hank nodded. "If you'd be happier in the new position, then you should go, as much as I hate to say it," he said softly. "But I, for one, would miss you terribly. And without your contacts, and your abilities... well. You have training that none of the rest of us do. We could find a way to do without it, if we had to, but we'd rather not."

"Well, I haven't decided yet," Madelyn reassured him. "And the whole Mistra mission made me realise there's a lot more I can do that involves the team. I wanted to talk to people before I made a decision, 'though - there might be something I haven't thought of yet."

Hank nodded. "Very sensible. A momentous decision requires careful consideration. And I, of course, want you to do what seems best to you, and choose that action which will make you the happiest." He paused and smiled a little ruefully. "Although I very much don't want you to leave," he admitted. "But that's a purely selfish matter."

"As I realised on my vacation, sometimes we need to be selfish. Before we run ourselves into the ground," Madelyn said, reaching over his desk for his hand. "And it's nice to know I'm wanted."

He took her hand, folding his fingers gently around it. "Very much so," he said, smiling at her. "But I do want you to be happy, too. Should you stay, we'd need to find you a proper niche of your own.

"Part of what I want to talk about - I've got an inkling of an idea that might give me the best of both worlds, but I have to see if it's feasible yet. Which means talking to Scott, Alison and Ororo. And probably the Professor." He was always so careful with her hands, she noticed. It must be difficult, having to be so mindful of his strength all the time. "A compromise - I can't see Fred objecting, since he seems so keen to have me working for him again." She blushed a little - he'd offered her a _lot_ of money.

"Compromises are good." Entirely unconsciously, he started stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, moving it in small circles. "Is this a team-leaders-only plan, or may I hear about it as well? I may be able to offer a helpful insight or two, from my many years of experience with this wacky group."

The stroking was nice - the back of her hand tingled. "I was thinking of a consultancy sort of position - there's cases Fred could use my expertise on, but not all of them. And there's resources here that the Bureau doesn't have access to - you and Moira's giant brains and knowledge of mutations, to begin with..." she said with a teasing smile. "The best of both worlds, like I said - it'd mean less shifts for me in the medlab, but with Jean back, that shouldn't be a problem."

"If it will keep you here, I will take all the shifts necessary and lay my giant brain willingly at your feet," he said seriously. "And I do have contacts of my own, who may or may not be useful to you." He couldn't help smiling at that thought. "It's always been something of a source of amusement to me... I have an absolutely enormous collection of genius contacts, my gregarious nature being what it is, but so far they've only been of practical use insofar as enabling me to find a robot squid for Forge to toy with, and locating a replacement doctor for Moira and the Muir facility. Should you ever need specialized scientific knowledge that Moira and I cannot provide, however, I'm sure I can find someone who can help."

"I appreciate that, more than I probably can say," Madelyn told him sincerely. "If I get this to work... it's more than just me, it's the team as well. A chance for the X-Men to liase with the Bureau on a regular basis. It'd do wonders for the team's public image, and the image of mutants in general."

Hank grinned. "Well, that would most certainly be a good thing... after all, we can't all coast along on my reputation as an interesting and amusing lecturer and debonair partygoer forever." He winked at her. "Although should you need an escort to any formal functions, I trust you recall that I can be as charming and entertaining at parties as in day-to-day life."

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind, definitely - you look too good in a tux to leave at home." It _was_ good to be home, she decided, relaxing into the chair now the awkward part was over. "I want to talk to Alison about this, definitely - that devious mind of hers will no doubt pick up a whole bunch of things I've missed."

Hank beamed, and twirled his hat on one finger. "I do look rather smashing in a tux, don't I?" he said mock-seriously. "And oh, yes, by all means, take advantage of the devious mind of Alison. I adore her, naturally, but her ability to think her way through a corkscrew without touching the sides makes even me a little nervous sometimes. You just never know where she's going to wind up, once she gets started."

"Tell me about it - she's still making noises about taking me shopping. Luckily she's been distracted with all the work and Haroun to remember that particular threat." Madelyn's expression was half-relieved, half-disappointed. Part of her had been looking forward to that, however much the idea of trying on clothes made her shudder.

Hank paused. "Has the position of pack-male been filled for this shopping trip, yet?" he asked hopefully. "If not, I selflessly volunteer. I like shopping, and shopping with two lovely ladies, who will probably be trying on clothes and shoes and generally rendering it my solemn duty to ogle... well, it'd be difficult, but I'd be very stoic about it."

Madelyn shook her head, laughing at him. "Well, considering it's a theoretical shopping trip only, consider yourself theoretical pack-male - I doubt Haroun would have the patience, even if Alison could turn him to obedient goo with that pout of hers. And you sir, are a shameless flirt."

He batted his eyelashes at her. "And proud of it," he agreed cheerfully. "And as a shameless flirt, it is clearly my duty to surrender myself entirely to you and Alison, to do with as you will." He winked at her, and grinned. "Anyway, I need to go shopping soon... did Jubilee tell you about her A? I want to get her a congratulatory gift of some kind. Possibly with an A-theme. Do you know if she likes amethysts?"

"I heard all about it over dinner, yes. She's done so well - it's good to see her hard work pay off." Madelyn's smile was proud, as proud as she would have been if they were talking about Carlie. "They're shiny and purple - I think she'd love them. She's a teenage girl - they like the shiny."

"Then I will get her amethysts," Hank decided. "They're pretty, shiny, and purple... and, incidentally, are supposed to protect against bad dreams. She hasn't mentioned it, but there aren't very many people hereabouts who aren't plagued by bad dreams, now and then."

"She does have nightmares," Madelyn said, nodding. "Not as much as she used to, but while she was staying with me, I'd hear her sometimes, whimpering in her sleep. Her parents, I think, mostly."

Hank nodded. "A talisman against the night-terrors is always a comforting thing to have," he said softly. "Especially when given to you by someone who cares. And, since I suspect she's too old for teddybears, an amethyst it shall be."

"I think she'd surprise you with the teddy bear thing," she said, smiling a little. "Jubilee's very young in some ways." Which wasn't a problem at all - Madelyn was glad to see her giggling with Carlie like a couple of kids. "But I think amethysts would be much better received. I hope you've got an O2 tank handy for when she hugs you to death."

"She is, indeed, very young for her age at times... perhaps amethysts and a matching purple bear. I usually give blue ones - blue fur being so handsome on ME, after all - but I'm sure I can find a purple one." Hank smiled. "I... we've gotten very close, since my illness. She occasionally does that 'feeling vulnerable, must flee' thing, but not as often now."

"I'm glad. I was worried about leaving her like I did, but I think in the end she was glad I was getting the time away - she fusses. Which is a good thing - she never cared much about people, and now she's doing the whole mother hen thing." Madelyn chuckled fondly. "She's certainly come a long way." Then she became a little more serious. "I know it's not my place to talk about team stuff, but Haroun mentioned her being a trainee - how's she doing? He seemed to think she wasn't taking it seriously."

"I suspect her reputation is telling against her. I talked to Scott about it, although I'm not sure 'this will be good for her and for the team' is quite what he wanted to hear." Hank smiled, and set his hat at an angle on her head. It looked adorable. "I do think she's taking it seriously... she seems very determined to make good. I've promised to help her with her training, and in any other way I can... and while I'm not the expert on energy-based powers that some are, I'd be considered one anywhere that wasn't here. Also... once she's worked her way up to training sequences in the Danger Room, I thought I'd offer to go through a few with her. Pairing a long-range power with enhanced strength or other contact powers is generally interesting and instructive. Don't tell her, though... I'm saving that for a surprise, when she hits her first snags with training."

"I told him she might surprise him," Madelyn said, rolling her eyes slightly. "I didn't want to get into specifics, since like I said, I'm not team and it's not my area. But this seemed so important to her, I just wanted to reassure myself she was doing okay."

"I will, if she permits, be her champion," Hank promised. "Not the least because I do believe she would benefit enormously from the training. And so would some of the others." He paused and smiled ruefully. "Did anyone mention that she told Scott that she wouldn't obey orders she couldn't agree with?"

"She didn't," Madelyn said, disbelievingly. "Oh, firecracker, I know you pride yourself on being honest, but that really wouldn't have helped." She knew Scott well enough to know that.

"I really don't think it did." Hank shook his head. "I applaud her honesty - we all do, after all, have things that we just won't do - but I don't think Scott liked the notion." He smiled a little. "Nevertheless, she made it in. I was very proud of her."

"So am I, although some lessons in the art of job applications and interviews might be a good idea," Madelyn said, settling Hank's hat at a slightly less rakish angle on her head. "I should have gotten one of these for myself," she said with a grin.

"It's probably best that you didn't. You'd cause swooning in the halls." He gave her an admiring look. "If I look half as charming in it as you do, I will never wear another hat."

She shook her head at him, half amused, half exasperated. "Are you ever serious?" she asked.

"Often. But I never admit it." He smiled a bit ruefully. "I'm sorry, I imagine it's annoying at times. It's... a defense mechanism, of sorts. I've always joked around a lot - when things are tense, to keep myself and others from panicking, when things are dull to keep myself and others amused, and when things are important to me, to disguise the fact that they are, and so on. If I never admit to being serious about anything, then I can keep it at a safe distance." He brushed the back of a furry hand along her arm. "Like the fur. I'm... ambivalent about it, most of the time. It still bothers me, that I look so inhuman. But I joke about it, to keep it from getting to me too much."

"It just gets difficult, knowing which defense mechanism you're using when," she said, catching his hand before he could pull it back, and stroking the fur along the back of it. "I could put you on the spot and ask what reason it is when you flirt the way you do, but I know which one it is." She paused for a moment, during which Hank's pulse accelerated. " I know the fur matters to you, but really? I don't even notice it any more. It was strange, talking to you with the inducer on, like talking to a stranger. I much prefer you this way. You're more Hank to me when you're blue and furry."

"Thank you," he said softly, trying to get his pulse under control. She was being unfairly entrancing. "The flirting, aside from my personal issues, is fun in its own right. I have a strict policy of honesty in flirting... I have to mean every single thing I say." He curled his hand around hers again. "Well, apart from the 'lets elope' parts, I admit. But I assure you, my dear, every single compliment I've ever paid you... or anyone else... has been entirely sincere. A little overdramatized, perhaps, but sincere."

Now the blush reappeared. "You're as bad as Haroun used to be," she said, but with a smile. "I have to admit... compliments of any kind, but especially the overdramatic sort, they're not something I'm used to. Which is why I don't believe you most of the time when you do it."

He shook his head, smiling. "Well, that won't do... I'll tell you what. I'll be serious just this once, although you're not to tell anyone." He reached out, resting a fingertip gently under her chin and tilting her face up just a little. "You are an exceptionally beautiful woman, Madelyn," he said softly. "And physical beauty is the least of your many charms. You are also kind, generous, intelligent, gentle, humorous, compassionate, wise, and a delightful dance-partner. Doubt me if you will, but every word is true."

The blush spread and she looked down, a little overwhelmed. And something else as well - something about the tone in Hank's voice had stirred something in her. "Thank you," she said at last, wishing she had more to say than that. Or maybe she did. "Hank, I..."

She was interrupted by the piercing *beepbeepbeep* of Hank's pager, and they both jumped.

Hank could almost see the moment slip away, and he cursed silently. "I should go... we've been running more tests on Jono - his energy levels are lowering, now that he's using his powers again, and we're hoping to hit the threshold soon." He reclaimed his hat, and offered her in exchange the almost-forgotten origami creature he'd made for her... a leopard, green with gold spots. "A small token of my regard... although not nearly so nifty a gift as my hat. I like the hat very much."

"Ooh, this is lovely, Hank!" Madelyn fussed over the leopard, covering the momentary confusion. More complications indeed. "Thank you. And I'm glad you like the hat - it said 'you' as soon as I saw it."

"I adore the hat." He tipped it to her, giving her a little bow. "And though I must leave, I shall take my hat with me, that I may dazzle all whom I see with my sheer rugged good looks."

"Indeed you will," Madelyn said with a laugh, getting up from her seat. "And I have a pile of taskforce reports to catch up on, so it's back to my suite for me. I'll see you later, Hank. Have a good night."

"You too, my dear. And pleasant dreams, when you sleep."

He waited until she was gone, then carefully removed his hat, selected a clear area of wall, and thumped his head gently against it. Several times. "A perfect moment," he told the wall between thumps. "And I missed it. I..." He sorted through several dozen words, and could find only one to describe his woeful lack of moment-siezing. "I SUCK."