Amanda, Meggan - Wednesday morning

[xp_daytripper]

Coming up from medlab to see this post, Amanda goes to see if she can't coax Meggan out. Since using powers to break in on the cranky little girl is probably a tad OTT.



Meggan was making it a point to do all the things she was emphatically not supposed to do. She'd spilled, sloshed, and splattered, she'd bitten the end off her toothbrush, had smeared shampoo all over the inside of the shower until it resembled a Slime Pit, and now she was writing all the rude words she knew on the walls. She didn't know many, and she had to guess at some of the spelling, but the bright purple soap stood out well against the tiles...

Separating her from Manda. This would not be tolerated ANY more. Being good hadn't gotten her what she wanted, so she was going to try being bad. Maybe that would work better.

"Give me a few minutes with her? Thanks, Dani. I'm really sorry 'bout all this..." Amanda closed the door of the suite the Cheyenne girl shared with Meggan on the outraged other girl, and then stopped, looking at the most emphatically closed bathroom door. Fuck, what a mess. Angelo had been right, she shouldn't have let things slide this long. Taking a breath to steady herself, she moved over to the bathroom door and tapped on it gently. "Meg? It's Amanda. You all right in there?"

"I'm ANGRY!" Meggan told her through the door, setting a tube of toothpaste carefully on the floor, and then jumping on it. Ooh, pink toothpaste EVERYWHERE. "And I'm making a MESS!"

Amanda couldn't help a grin. Who knew her monkey girl had such a temper on her? But this was serious, cute as it was. "Makin' a mess won't help things, love," she said softly, laying her hand flat against the door. "Wanna tell me 'bout it? Since I'm pretty sure it's me you're mad at."

"I'm mad at everybody!" Meggan said, looking around for more ammunition, biting her lip. She wasn't going to cry anymore, crying hadn't helped either. "They're all big poopyheads, like I said in my journal! I wanna stay with YOU!"

"Meg, I explained. It's not safe for you t' stay with me. Not until I'm cured." Amanda's heart twisted a little at the heartbroken tone. "An' I'm workin' on that, but it's gunna take time. But if you stay with me right now... I can't be sure I won't hurt you again, love, an' I don't want that. It's better this way."

"But it didn't HURT, it just felt weird." Meggan sighed, sitting down on a cleanish patch of floor by the door and playing with the remains of the purple soap. "I didn't mind, if it made you feel better!"

Amanda heard her sit, and did the same on her side, leaning against the door with her shoulder. "'S not the point, Meg. I used you, did somethin' that might've hurt you, an' I didn't even think of that." She let her head rest against the door with a soft thunk. "This... problem of mine, it makes me unreliable, an' you need people around you who can make sure you're safe. Who'll be there for you." She swallowed a little heavily. "I can't promise that, not like I am now."

"But I want to be with YOU," Meggan said again, plaintively this time. "You're my Manda! Nobody else is the same! And I don't like having a new room!"

"Sometimes what we want an' what's best aren't always the same thing, monkey girl," Amanda said with a sigh. She'd learned that the hard way. "An' I can still be your Manda, even with you in a different room. You need the space, the chance t' learn t' be yer own person, without me crowdin' you. But that won't stop you bein' my monkeygirl. Nothin'll stop that." She tried a slightly different tack. "You've got much more space for your toys an' books now, don't you? An' a closet of your own."

"I don't LIKE it. I miss having your stuff around. And Angie's closet to hide in." Meggan sniffled a little. "An' you don't crowd me. Nobody ever wanted me to BE me until you found me, you're UN-crowdy..."

"An' we miss you, too." And she did, desperately - her room still felt far too empty. "But you ought t' make more friends, love, an' you can't do that attached t' me all the time. An' you're startin' school next week... You need t' get used t' havin' lots of different people around." Amanda was racking her brain for all those oh-so-reasonable arguments for why this was a good idea - she hadn't been in great shape when she'd spoken to the Professor after the decision was made. "You can come visit, you know. Any time you like."

"I DO make friends. But I want you too." Meggan scowled, throwing the soap hard across the room. It made a satisfying thud as it hit the side of the bath. "And I don't LIKE this." She paused. "I can come visit?"

"Of course you can. An' I'll come visit too, more 'n I have. I had t' make sure I wasn't... sick any more first." Amanda hadn't explained the addiction - the concept was a bit complicated, and she didn't want to remind her little furry girl of the uglier side of things. "First day of school, you can come have breakfast with me an' Angie. We can have pancakes. Funny shapes." Her tone was a little wheedling now, and a little wistful. She'd missed their meals together. Definitely should have come by sooner. "I know you don't like bein' in this room, but it's for the best, love, an' you like Dani an' Catseye an' Rahne an' Jennie all right, don't you?"

"Yeeeess.." Meggan admitted reluctantly. "They're all nice. But they're not my Manda." She doodled absently on the tiled floor with a bit of toothpaste. She was still mad. And she still didn't like it. But.... "Animal shape pancakes?" she asked hopefully. Food still had the power to distract her from most things.

"Yep. We've still got your special pancake molds, saved all special." Don't let the slight hint of triumph enter your voice, she reminded herself. She hadn't won until the door was unlocked. "An' I bet you're hungry now - you've been in there for hours. If you unlock the door, I can take you down t' the kitchen an' we can get somethin' t' eat..."

"I'm not hungry." Meggan hung her head rather guiltily. "I ate something," she confessed. "I know I'm not s'posed to, but I was hungry..."

"What'd you eat, love?" Amanda asked, trying not to sound too worried. Meggan's powers made for unusual eating habits. "I won't be cross if you tell me, I just need t' know you're all right."

"Uhm. Dani's oatmeal soap," Meggan confessed in a very small voice. "It didn't taste as good as it smelled, but I was HUNGRY. An' it's all natural an' no detergents, it said so on the label..."

This time the giggle escaped. "It's all right, love, we'll get her a new one. An' we'll ask one of the docs t' make sure you won't get sick from eatin' it." Well, if she could find one she could talk to without distracting them too much from the work on Haroun. Maybe a brief call to Moira at the hospital... "You wanna unlock the door? Teddy's awfully lonely out here, an' so'm I."

"I won't get sick," Meggan said confidently. "I been learning about insides, an' mine are extra 'dapted to deal with weird food. Or electricity. I had some of that too." She pouted a bit. "An' I don't wanna unlock the door. You'll think I'm okay again and go away."

"I won't, love, promise. I was wrong, stayin' away as much as I did, but I won't do it any more." Amanda smiled a bit sadly. "Sometimes I fu... um, mess up, but I try not t' do the same mistakes again."

"You better not," Meggan threatened, sniffling again. "Or I'll eat styrofoam and be sick *everywhere* and then you'll be sorry."

"Witch's honour," Amanda said solemnly, hand over her heart. "No goin' away like I did before."

"Well... Okay." Meggan opened the door and flung herself happily into Manda's lap. "I missed you!" she said, hugging tightly.

It took all of Amanda's self-control not to flinch away from the hug. Meg was covered in bathroom products, her fur matted with gloop, but that wasn't the reason why. The last time she'd touched Meggan she'd... Pushing the memory away, Amanda hugged her back tightly, toothpaste smearing across her cheek. "Missed you too," she whipsered back, before loosening her hold a bit. "Bloody hell, look at the state of you," she continued, looking Meggan up and down. "When you decide t' be bad, you definitely put in the effort, don't you?"

Meggan giggled, managing to look both guilty and smug at the same time. "I made a BIG mess," she admitted. "I was really mad. But I didn't break anything... 'cept my toothbrush. I bit its head off."

"You've been itchin' t' do that ever since I first taught you t' brush yer teeth, haven't you?" Amanda said with a chuckle, shifting a tangled lock of hair out of Meggan's face. "Well, we'd better get you cleaned up. An' the bathroom too - we can't leave all that for Dani, can we?"

Meggan sighed deeply. "No. I guess not," she said rather sadly. Making the mess had been fun. Cleaning it probably wouldn't be. Then she brightened. It was a very thorough mess. Manda would be with her for ages, helping to clean it all up. Something worth remembering, that.

It wasn't hard to follow Meggan's thought processes, and Amanda felt a stab of guilt at her neglect. "All right then, get your butt in the shower an' I'll start on the floor, yeah?" She gave the furry girl another hug before letting her go. "An' if we get it all done quick, maybe we could go an' get some ice cream in town."

"Yay!" Meggan bounced, giving Manda one more hug before scampering back into the bathroom.

Icecream or no icecream, though, she wasn't going to hurry TOO much. She'd missed spending time with Manda enough that even cleaning had its charms.