xp_logs | Amanda, Domino, Rachel

Following the conversation with Alison, Amanda finds herself at a bit of a loose end, and winds up at Nathan and Moira's suite whilst Nathan is off meeting his father. Domino is there with the newest arrival, and the awkwardness continues.

It was Saturday. Mid-morning on a Saturday. Amanda could have slept in, but her body clock was set for Strange time, and so she'd woken early, joined Meg and Doug for morning cartoons (blinking at the screen in a bemused way since she really hadn't watched them much before), an then there'd been that beyond-awkward conversation with Alison, and now she was drifting along the hall, at a loss for what to do despite what she'd told Alison. Meg had gone off to do her normal Saturday things, and Amanda hadn't wanted to upset her routine, but fuckit, she didn't know what to do with herself.

It was perhaps inevitable that her wanderings led her to Nate and Moira's suite. Maybe she could chat to them for a while, peek at the baby, see if Moira needed anything...

Domino looked up at the soft knock on the door. "Come in," she called out quietly, and the little person in her arms cooed softly. "Yes, that would be a visitor, sweetie," she said with a wide grin. "Probably coming to see you. Now, don't wake up your mom, all right?"

Amanda had almost forgotten Dom was still around, so quiet had she been. Well, had both of them been, actually. "Hey," she said, coming in, and then grinned at the sight of Domino with her arms full of newborn baby. "Roped in for sittin' already?" she asked, keeping her voice quiet.

"No roping about it," Domino said with a grin, inclining her head at the couch. "Come sit down and say hello."

"....ooo," Rachel coooed. "Meh?"

"You're gettin' all mushy," Amanda teased, following Domino's hint and taking a seat. As Domino lowered herself carefully down beside her, the witch leaned over and offered Rachel a finger to grab. "Hey there, very small person. 'M yer... 'm Amanda."

Domino raised an eyebrow at the obvious correction, but didn't comment upon it. Rachel merely emitted another sequence of those oddly kittenish noises and squeezed Amanda's finger.

#Ooo?# echoed in Amanda's mind inquisitively. #Ooo?#

Domino blinked. "There she goes again. Whoa."

"Whoa is right." Amanda blinked at the odd sensation of a new telepathic voice in her mind, and ran through one of Strange's meditative sequences to firm up her shields. There was a lot of stuff in there she wouldn't want an innocent mind exposed to. Luckily, she'd gotten a lot of practice with Meggan and Manuel. She smiled at the grip Rachel had on her finger, wagging it gently. "Tough little scrapper, aren't you?" she murmured, voice the same gentle tone she used with Meg. "Gunna give Nate a whole new batch of grey hairs."

"Isn't she beautiful?" Dom had a wholly alien beatific look on her face as she gazed down at Rachel. "She looks so much like Moira. I think the shape of her eyes is more like Nate, though... what about you?"

"Think you might be right." Amanda freed her fnger gently and ran the tip along Rachel's downy cheek. "Might even have his eye colour, once they settle down. Either way, she's gorgeous."

"Nate, the ass, let them drag him off on a mission on Tuesday - did you hear that?" Domino giggled softly, and Rachel squeaked again, blinking up at her. "Moira was telling me that he came tearing into the delivery room and she threw a cup of ice at his head."

"I would've been more surprised if there hadn't been some sort of crisis just before Moira started, the way this place runs," Amanda said with a snicker. "'S like livin' in one of those comic books Doug likes so much sometimes, the way things're timed. I would've helped, only they cleared the lab, t' try an' keep the mental noise down."

"I gather she wasn't all that keen on the whole being born thing." Domino beamed down at the baby, who started to coo again. "Can't really blame her. I bet it was nice and warm where she was..." She looked up at Amanda with a sheepish smile. "I'm so gone on this kid, can you tell?"

"Just a bit." There was an answering smile, but a certain wistfulness as well. "'M surprised you managed t' pry her away from Nate... where is he today, any way?"

"Headed off into the city to meet his dad again, I gather." Domino rolled her eyes. "You know, the SOB didn't tell me? I guess he told GW, and thought GW would tell me, and GW decided that discretion was the better part of valor and it wasn't his job..."

"Yeah, he's been cagey 'bout the whole deal. Didn't tell me 'til the last minute, and then the next week his dad's at the school, large as life." Amanda frowned a little. "Asked a lot of questions 'bout people's mutations."

"Did he now?" Domino beamed at Rachel. "I'd like to meet the old... man myself, to be honest. Call it curiosity. Just to see if he deserves such a pretty grandaughter."

#Oooo!#

Domino grinned. "Oh, you're going to drive them just INSANE when you're teething, sweetie. I wish I could be here to laugh at your dad."

Amanda could take a hint - no serious talk in front of the telepathic baby, shields or not. "You'll visit tho', yeah?" she said, sitting back and watching Domino cuddling the baby. Oh yes, definitely too cute for words.

"Going to do my best." Domino looked up at Amanda, her smile a little wistful. "I'm going back. I gather I may not be doing it alone, at least. When I was in the city with the others the other day, Ani and Piers were having this overly ostentatious discussion over lunch about how they'd always wanted to see the Sudan."

"See, that's what happens when you overdo it. People watch you like a hawk for ages, makin' sure you don't do it again." Until more interesting things came along, at least. "But a couple of extra hands can't be a bad thing, yeah? Get more done that way?"

Domino would have shrugged, if her arms hadn't been full of baby. She gave Amanda a lopsided grin. "I'm stubborn, not stupid. I'll give my token protest against needing minders and then run off with our two ferals in tow. Now, if GW had decided he felt the need to come help out, that would have been a battle royale."

"Breakin' free of the dad figures, yeah?" Amanda teased, with a grin. "But yeah, glad yer not gunna be stupid 'bout things. If the help's there, then take it." She shifted a little, conversation steering back into awkward mental paths, for her at least. Help. Yeah, right. "Be hard t' explain t' this one why Auntie Dom disappeared in the middle of the desert somewhere, yeah?"

There was definitely something a little off about Amanda, Domino thought, a bit bemused, but she wasn't going to go prodding about it, not with the munchkin here and so obviously listening avidly. Before she left, she told herself firmly. Definitely.

"Definitely breaking free of the father figures," she said easily. "Ani and Ian are fun to hang out with, anyway. I mean, thoroughly and completely insane, and I have no idea how I'm going to manage to feed them in Darfur, but I certainly could use the help."

"How's Ani doin'?" Amanda leaped on the slight change of subject. "I didn't really meet Ian, but yeah, hope she's all right."

"Time's helping, I think," Domino said with a slightly wistful smile. "And Ian. Is helping. Mostly by being impossibly crazy." Rachel squeaked, and Dom gave her a thoughtful look. "Tired of being held by the same person? Why don't I hand you over..." She gave Amanda an innocent smile.

"Hey, wait, that's not such a good..." Amanda didn't really have time to protest before she found her arms full of warm, slighty-squeaking humanity. She cuddled Rachel awkwardly, propping her head up with her bicep. "Um. Well. This'd be me, holdin' the baby..." It wasn't so bad, she thought with a small smile. Sort of nice.

Rachel cooed very softly, almost appealingly, and Domino smiled softly at the two of them. "I think she likes you. But of course she has taste - she's Moira's."

Amanda blushed faintly. "Balmy as the rest of the family, yeah?" she murmured softly. "Well, let's hope you don't have yer dad's accident prone-ness, yeah? I'd hate to have t' have t' give you yer very own shieldin' spell as a christenin' present." Which led to thoughts of protection amulets, and she glanced up at Domino. "Think they'd mind one of my protection doohickeys for her? I got one for Meg, after she got taken. Won't stop everythin', but it's a good early warnin'."

"I think they'd love you for it," Domino said after a moment, the smile she was directing at Amanda now almost tender. "They're both just a little nervous, although they're doing a great job at hiding it. I guess they have to, because she'd feel it."

"Ooo..." Rachel yawned widely and blinked sleepily up at Amanda.

"Hah, that interestin', are we?" Amanda told the baby with a faint chuckle, but rocked her slightly, showing no signs of wanting to relinquish her now she had her hands on her. "I'll chase one up, if you think it's a good idea. Bracelet, like the one I got Meg, I think - you can adjust the size as they get bigger. 'S just a matter of findin' one through me contacts." She grinned sheepishly. "Or eBay. You'd be amazed at what people sell on that."

Domino grinned, leaning back against the couch. "I think it's an excellent idea. Heck, if nothing else, it'll warn her. And honestly, I don't think there are going to be many people who want to screw with this baby. I had her in the nursery changing her earlier and she was levitating the baby powder bottle." Domino shook her head. "Four days old."

"Fu... fudge knows what she'll be like when she's older," Amanda agreed. "Two year old telekinetic temper tantrums - think I might have t' work on a couple of things meself, or baby sittin's goin' t' be scary."

"Nonsense. You're only going to throw things at the guys, right? Not us girls. Because you know we're on your side." Rachel squealed at Domino, and Dom grinned, looking up at Amanda. "I'm going to teach her well."