Marie-Ange, Amanda -Monday evening
Jun. 5th, 2006 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe day after the breakup with Doug, Marie-Ange seeks out the traditionally ally of the broken-hearted - her best friend. Amanda does what she can.
Marie-Ange stood outside Amanda's door, knocked, and leaned her head against the wall. Too angry to try to talk to Doug, and too upset to do much of anything else, she'd spent most of the day sitting in her room not doing anything except staring at her phone, hoping for Amanda to call back, and praying Doug would not call.
She wasn't sure what she would do if he did - go back to him, or take him back.. or lose any and all respect for him for not standing his ground.
And as luck would have it, when Amanda did call, Marie-Ange was in the shower, hoping the hot water would make her feel less... tired, less sore. It didn't help, not at all. But she could at least go out with clean hair and skin and not feeling ... icky.
For her part, Amanda was cursing that she'd a) not been home when Angie had called the first time, b) had rushed out of her apartment late for work that morning and missed checking her messages and c) had only just gotten home a couple of hours ago and realised Marie-Ange had called. A very upset-sounding Marie-Ange. She'd called back straight away, got Angie's voice mail and left a message telling her to come to New York if she needed away from the school. When the knock came, she virtually lunged at the door, yanking it open.
"Hey roomie," she said, the sight of her friend making her heart ache. "Glad you made it. C'mon in, kettle's on."
She wasn't even sure what to say - by now, everyone had probably heard, someone had to have told Amanda more than what Marie-Ange herself had left on the voicemail. But being out of the mansion helped, and having a good -real- mug of tea, that wasn't Earl Grey, and was hot and strong helped even more.
"I do not... I .. I am not sure what even happened.." She started, once she'd had enough tea to maybe feel like she could talk.
"Sometimes these things just come out of the blue," Amanda said sympathetically. Certainly the fights with Manuel had sometimes erupted out of the smallest thing, although she was in no way comparing Doug to the empath. "Maybe in a few days, once you both cool down, maybe you could talk, try and sort stuff out?"
"Perhaps.." Marie-Ange was not so sure though. "Doug is hiding now. He went out and came back very very late, and he has not said anything much to anyone at all since the fight.." She shook her head slowly. "And that was why we were fighting. He always runs away and hides..."
Amanda reached over and uncharactersitically rested her hand on Marie-Ange's shoulder - the French girl was her best friend, but Amanda had never been as physically demonstrative with her as she might have been with Angelo or even Charlie. "I know, when I went and hid because something was bothering me, it was because I didn't want to drag people into my shite. Maybe that's why Doug does it? He doesn't want to drag you down with him?"
"I do not know, he never explains.." Which was entirely like Doug, not to be able to explain it, despite his power. "Even when I ask, whenever I ask..." She pulled her feet into her chest, resting the mug on one knee. "He said I -meddle- too much. That I am ... some kind of .. I do not know, a .. a nag!"
Amanda blinked. Marie-Ange had never struck her as the meddling sort back when they were roomies. Except when there'd been a real need, like with the addiction. "You're not a nag," she replied as soothingly as she could - she really wasn't good at this, for all that she wanted to help her friend. "And when you do get involved, it's 'cause there's a good reason, I'm sure."
Marie-Ange played with the ends of her hair, braiding and unbraiding it compulsively. "I suppose. I ... do not know. I am .." She stammered, and then set her jaw, lips thin and tight. "No, I am not a nag, and I do not think I meddle too much, and ... and.. " She gripped at the lock of hair in her hand and tugged out the loose braid. "And Doug is no better about it!"
Amanda reached out and captured Marie-Ange's hands in her own. "Hey, don't pull your hair out about it. I'm sure there's some way this'll all settle." Keeping hold of her friend's hands, she continued. "I won't say it's okay, 'cause it's not. I understand what it's like to have everything fall apart. But believe me when I say that it'll get... not better, bit easier to bear."
"I just .. it was right out in front of everyone, and then Doug left me to have to respond to the people who heard. He has been hiding and I have had to do all the talking and explaining and ..." She hung her head. "I suppose I started it in the first place, but he was there too.."
"Well, if you need somewhere to sit out the worst of the fallout, you're always welcome to stay here," Amanda told her. "And if there's anything I can do to make it easier, you let me know. As for Doug..." Amanda trailled off helplessly. "Maybe once he's had a chance to think about things, he'll come out of hiding and you can talk?"
"Maybe. Maybe he will not come out of hiding at all." She gave a half-hearted little shrug, and went back to her mug of tea. "I do not know, and I hate not knowing.. " This wasn't how she'd seen things at -all-, and it was really starting to bother her.
"He'll have to surface sometime, unless he does a me and skips out on the state entirely..." It was a pretty lame joke, but all Amanda had left. It was so hard, watching her usually-confident friend reduced to this. "There's school, and the team and all the rest. As well as you - he's crazy about you, Angie, I know he is. This is just some sort of... misunderstanding. You'll sort it out."
Marie-Ange wanted to think Doug was, but she just wasn't sure anymore. "He's barely surfaced since we had the fight, and he was so angry... " She shrugged again, not really feeling the energy to do much more than that. "And.. I am too afraid to check. What if I just did not see it coming and it was there all along that we were not supposed to stay together?"
"Tante'd say that there are some things you can't see coming, mate. Just because you didn't see this fight doesn't mean you weren't meant to be together. It just means you didn't see the fight. And if you tried now, in the state you're in, you'd probably get a dodgy result any way." Amanda gave her a Look. "You're all in and the last thing you need is to give yourself one of your powers headaches."
"I locked my cards up in my locker on purpose..." Marie-Ange answered. "I.. am just not sure what to do now, and ... " She let out a sigh. "Maybe I should just let it go, until Doug comes around. He thinks that I meddle and poke at him too much, and coming running after him might seem like that."
"I think both of you need a couple of days to let things settle," Amanda agreed. "You're both probably in the same state and no-one's going to be thinking straight. If he doesn't get in touch by the end of the week, maybe, perhaps email him? Email's good for having the distance, if he's feeling crowded." And it had always worked with her and Manuel, talking over things via email instead of in person or, even worse, the journals.
Marie-Ange nodded slowly as she finished the last of her tea. "And Doug is better with email than face to face sometimes. He has... a comfort zone, I think it is called. It gives him time to think..." That really was a good idea, she thought. Hopefully they could talk about things and try to work it out.
"Some stuff's easier when you don't have to look at someone," Amanda agreed, thinking of that first letter to Nathan. "You're not going back to the school tonight - you can crash here and I can wake you up when I get up for work." There was no room for argument in Amanda's tone - apparently she'd picked up a few things during her stays with Tante and Moira.
"I am not sure I could drive back safely. There will be no insomnia for me tonight." Marie-Ange agreed. "I can call and let someone know I will return the car after my afternoon class.." She ran a hand through her hair, not pulling this time, but just pulling it off her face. "I am -not- eating your English Breakfasts, though." Teasing Amanda helped, a little - just a very little.
Amanda poked her tongue out at her friend, glad to hear her teasing, even faintly. "Bah. Puts hair on your chest," she replied, reaching over and taking Marie-Ange's mug, patting her knee at the same time. "But just in case you stayed over, I've got some of that birdseed stuff you like."
Marie-Ange stood outside Amanda's door, knocked, and leaned her head against the wall. Too angry to try to talk to Doug, and too upset to do much of anything else, she'd spent most of the day sitting in her room not doing anything except staring at her phone, hoping for Amanda to call back, and praying Doug would not call.
She wasn't sure what she would do if he did - go back to him, or take him back.. or lose any and all respect for him for not standing his ground.
And as luck would have it, when Amanda did call, Marie-Ange was in the shower, hoping the hot water would make her feel less... tired, less sore. It didn't help, not at all. But she could at least go out with clean hair and skin and not feeling ... icky.
For her part, Amanda was cursing that she'd a) not been home when Angie had called the first time, b) had rushed out of her apartment late for work that morning and missed checking her messages and c) had only just gotten home a couple of hours ago and realised Marie-Ange had called. A very upset-sounding Marie-Ange. She'd called back straight away, got Angie's voice mail and left a message telling her to come to New York if she needed away from the school. When the knock came, she virtually lunged at the door, yanking it open.
"Hey roomie," she said, the sight of her friend making her heart ache. "Glad you made it. C'mon in, kettle's on."
She wasn't even sure what to say - by now, everyone had probably heard, someone had to have told Amanda more than what Marie-Ange herself had left on the voicemail. But being out of the mansion helped, and having a good -real- mug of tea, that wasn't Earl Grey, and was hot and strong helped even more.
"I do not... I .. I am not sure what even happened.." She started, once she'd had enough tea to maybe feel like she could talk.
"Sometimes these things just come out of the blue," Amanda said sympathetically. Certainly the fights with Manuel had sometimes erupted out of the smallest thing, although she was in no way comparing Doug to the empath. "Maybe in a few days, once you both cool down, maybe you could talk, try and sort stuff out?"
"Perhaps.." Marie-Ange was not so sure though. "Doug is hiding now. He went out and came back very very late, and he has not said anything much to anyone at all since the fight.." She shook her head slowly. "And that was why we were fighting. He always runs away and hides..."
Amanda reached over and uncharactersitically rested her hand on Marie-Ange's shoulder - the French girl was her best friend, but Amanda had never been as physically demonstrative with her as she might have been with Angelo or even Charlie. "I know, when I went and hid because something was bothering me, it was because I didn't want to drag people into my shite. Maybe that's why Doug does it? He doesn't want to drag you down with him?"
"I do not know, he never explains.." Which was entirely like Doug, not to be able to explain it, despite his power. "Even when I ask, whenever I ask..." She pulled her feet into her chest, resting the mug on one knee. "He said I -meddle- too much. That I am ... some kind of .. I do not know, a .. a nag!"
Amanda blinked. Marie-Ange had never struck her as the meddling sort back when they were roomies. Except when there'd been a real need, like with the addiction. "You're not a nag," she replied as soothingly as she could - she really wasn't good at this, for all that she wanted to help her friend. "And when you do get involved, it's 'cause there's a good reason, I'm sure."
Marie-Ange played with the ends of her hair, braiding and unbraiding it compulsively. "I suppose. I ... do not know. I am .." She stammered, and then set her jaw, lips thin and tight. "No, I am not a nag, and I do not think I meddle too much, and ... and.. " She gripped at the lock of hair in her hand and tugged out the loose braid. "And Doug is no better about it!"
Amanda reached out and captured Marie-Ange's hands in her own. "Hey, don't pull your hair out about it. I'm sure there's some way this'll all settle." Keeping hold of her friend's hands, she continued. "I won't say it's okay, 'cause it's not. I understand what it's like to have everything fall apart. But believe me when I say that it'll get... not better, bit easier to bear."
"I just .. it was right out in front of everyone, and then Doug left me to have to respond to the people who heard. He has been hiding and I have had to do all the talking and explaining and ..." She hung her head. "I suppose I started it in the first place, but he was there too.."
"Well, if you need somewhere to sit out the worst of the fallout, you're always welcome to stay here," Amanda told her. "And if there's anything I can do to make it easier, you let me know. As for Doug..." Amanda trailled off helplessly. "Maybe once he's had a chance to think about things, he'll come out of hiding and you can talk?"
"Maybe. Maybe he will not come out of hiding at all." She gave a half-hearted little shrug, and went back to her mug of tea. "I do not know, and I hate not knowing.. " This wasn't how she'd seen things at -all-, and it was really starting to bother her.
"He'll have to surface sometime, unless he does a me and skips out on the state entirely..." It was a pretty lame joke, but all Amanda had left. It was so hard, watching her usually-confident friend reduced to this. "There's school, and the team and all the rest. As well as you - he's crazy about you, Angie, I know he is. This is just some sort of... misunderstanding. You'll sort it out."
Marie-Ange wanted to think Doug was, but she just wasn't sure anymore. "He's barely surfaced since we had the fight, and he was so angry... " She shrugged again, not really feeling the energy to do much more than that. "And.. I am too afraid to check. What if I just did not see it coming and it was there all along that we were not supposed to stay together?"
"Tante'd say that there are some things you can't see coming, mate. Just because you didn't see this fight doesn't mean you weren't meant to be together. It just means you didn't see the fight. And if you tried now, in the state you're in, you'd probably get a dodgy result any way." Amanda gave her a Look. "You're all in and the last thing you need is to give yourself one of your powers headaches."
"I locked my cards up in my locker on purpose..." Marie-Ange answered. "I.. am just not sure what to do now, and ... " She let out a sigh. "Maybe I should just let it go, until Doug comes around. He thinks that I meddle and poke at him too much, and coming running after him might seem like that."
"I think both of you need a couple of days to let things settle," Amanda agreed. "You're both probably in the same state and no-one's going to be thinking straight. If he doesn't get in touch by the end of the week, maybe, perhaps email him? Email's good for having the distance, if he's feeling crowded." And it had always worked with her and Manuel, talking over things via email instead of in person or, even worse, the journals.
Marie-Ange nodded slowly as she finished the last of her tea. "And Doug is better with email than face to face sometimes. He has... a comfort zone, I think it is called. It gives him time to think..." That really was a good idea, she thought. Hopefully they could talk about things and try to work it out.
"Some stuff's easier when you don't have to look at someone," Amanda agreed, thinking of that first letter to Nathan. "You're not going back to the school tonight - you can crash here and I can wake you up when I get up for work." There was no room for argument in Amanda's tone - apparently she'd picked up a few things during her stays with Tante and Moira.
"I am not sure I could drive back safely. There will be no insomnia for me tonight." Marie-Ange agreed. "I can call and let someone know I will return the car after my afternoon class.." She ran a hand through her hair, not pulling this time, but just pulling it off her face. "I am -not- eating your English Breakfasts, though." Teasing Amanda helped, a little - just a very little.
Amanda poked her tongue out at her friend, glad to hear her teasing, even faintly. "Bah. Puts hair on your chest," she replied, reaching over and taking Marie-Ange's mug, patting her knee at the same time. "But just in case you stayed over, I've got some of that birdseed stuff you like."
