Amanda and Crystal

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Trying to find Lorna in order to give her a piece of her mind, Amanda storms into the kitchen, surprising a stranger with that 'new student' smell. A cooking lesson from afar and bowls of pasta follow.


Amanda stomped into the kitchen, fully intent on cornering Lorna and putting it through her thick selfish head what she was doing to Remy. The older woman hadn't been in her room so the kitchen was the next logical place. Except that she wasn't there - the only denizen was a stranger, a blonde girl Amanda hadn't met before. One of the new students, she realised, pausing in mid-stomp.

Crystal had been staring defiantly at the stove. Before entering the kitchen, she had peeked in to ensure that this cooking goddess Lorna person was not currently in the kitchen. From what Terry had said about her needing to take Remedial Cooking, she wasn't looking forward to meeting her. Her hate-fest with the inanimate object came to an abrupt halt as someone stormed into the room. Surprised, Crystal whirled around to face the stomper.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Amanda said, mood backpedalling frantically. Must not traumatise the new students, must not traumatise the new students.... "Um, you wouldn't know where Lorna's gone, would you?"

At the mention of Lorna's name, Crystal paled. "No. Is she supposed to be here now?" Stay calm.

"Well, she's supposed to live in this bloody place..." Amanda glanced at the noticeboard that was traditionally used for writing down food to buy, and notice a brief note in Lorna's handwriting saying she would be gone the weekend. "There you go. No Lorna." It took the wind out of her sails somewhat. "Um, sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Amanda. I used to be a student here. You'd be one of the new faces?"

Confused, Crystal took a quick inventory of the kitchen, having seen neither living space nor blood when she entered. "Yes, I am. I am Crystal Amaquelin of Attilan." She curtsied to Amanda, adding, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Amanda." Although Amanda didn't look as angry as she had the moment she entered the kitchen, Crystal remained a bit wary. Play nicely with someone who stomps into kitchens, especially when you don‘t know what she‘s capable of doing.

Amanda blinked, taken aback by the gesture and the introduction. "Well, fuck me," she said, before recovering herself. "Um, pleased to meet you, Crystal, was it? Again, sorry if I startled you before. I wasn't expecting anyone else but Lorna to be around, and I've got a bone to pick with her." For some reason the girl reminded her of Manuel, although without the arrogance - he'd never have been polite to a random grumpy stranger in Doc Martens boots and threadbare jeans.

Again, a confused look came over Crystal's face, this time at the second word Amanda had spoken. The people here seemed to have many words and phrases she simply couldn't understand. It was almost as if they were speaking a different language. "Yes, my name is Crystal. Am I not supposed to be here? I did not think that one needed Lorna's presence in order to be in the kitchen." As she still remained a bit cautious of Amanda, Crystal had lapsed into formal speech.

"No, no, I was just focused on seeing her I didn't even stop to think someone else would be around. Summer hols and all, the place is quieter than usual." Amanda could see she was just confusing the poor girl. "Never mind me. Can I help you with something? You look a bit lost."

"I was just looking for something to eat." Something that doesn't involve the likelihood of setting the kitchen aflame. "The dining hall is closed now, I believe," Crystal answered.

"Yeah, the schedules get a bit flexible during the holidays." Amanda grinned with some sympathy at the other girl. "Not much of a cook?"

"That is correct," Crystal admitted. "I, ah, set a kitchen on fire one time. It wasn't recommended that I try it again. There were so many other things to learn that took precedence."

Amanda chuckled. "You wouldn't be the first in this place." Again, memories of Manuel trying to cook for her and her head twinged. "As long as you don't set yourself on fire, mind. We've had that already too. If you like I could help you find something - I'm not a genius chef like some of the people here, but I can manage an open flame without hassle."

“Oh, yes, thank-you. That would be most helpful. I'll... watch you. To learn." After a slight pause, Crystal added, "From a distance."

"No problems - since I don't have a green-haired bitch to yell at, might as well make myself useful." Amanda turned to the fridge. "Anything in particular you like? Or anything you can't or won't eat?" she asked, mindful that some people's mutations restricted their diets. And wasn't one of the newer students a vegan or something? It would explain the appearance of rennet-free cheese in here...

"No, I don't have any dietary restrictions or allergies," Crystal responded, puzzling over the concept of having a yelling match involving a dog with green hair. She kept her favorite meals to herself, as those tended to take a long time to prepare and she wasn't sure if certain ingredients could be found in this kitchen, especially with the cooking goddess away. "I like pasta," she said simply.

"You're in luck, pasta I can do." Amanda thanked whichever resident kitchen gods were around that someone - probably Jamie or Rahne - had left a container of meat sauce in the fridge. All the needed doing was the pasta whilst she microwaved that. "How long have you been at the school?" she asked, groping for casual conversation whilst she hunted for a saucepan for the pasta.

"I just arrived yesterday. I think it's safe to say that I'm the newest person here," Crystal smiled.

"So new you probably still have that 'new student' smell still," Amanda joked, filling the pan with water and setting it to boil. There were usually four or five types of pasta in the pantry, if she remembered properly... "How's it been so far? Still pretty confusing, I bet."

"Oh, it's been fine... mostly. My roommate snores, and I'm not really sure why I even have a roommate. It's the summer; there have to be empty rooms. I really want to get started on power classes as soon as I can."

"They like to make sure you don't hole up in your room all isolated and the rest," Amanda said with a wry grin. "Tends to mean someone goes boom eventually and there's the messy clean up. Still, you sound keen enough if you're wanting to get into powers classes." Or she could be having problems, but Amanda remembered enough manners to not say that. "What sort of things do you want to work on?"

"I want to increase the strength and speed of my air blasts, concentrated wind, really. I want to create rain on command. I've only managed that a few times; the first time was an accident, and that's what led to my arrival here, and the other times, well... they haven't turned out so well. Before last Sunday, I never even thought that I could form water."

Amanda blinked. Wind and water? That sounded... oddly familiar. "Well, you never know what you'll find you're capable of," she temporised, tipping pasta into the boiling water. "If you don't mind me asking... you've never had anything to do with magic, have you?"

"Magic? No," Crystal replied, puzzled. "Powers must seem like magic to those who don't have them, but of course they're not." Laughing, she added, "Why, are you going to be teaching a class on magic?"

"Me? Teach?" Amanda nearly dropped the container of pasta sauce she was in the middle of putting in the microwave. "Um, no. Just what you were saying about your powers reminded me of something I read somewhere, that's all." More frantic backpedalling. "I'm just a visitor, is all. I have friends here I like to drop in on sometimes. Teaching... not really my thing."

"Oh?" Crystal wanted to ask more about the wind and water book, but Amanda had already moved on to a different subject. "Do you live nearby?"

"New York." Amanda stirred the pasta some more and decided it was done. "Pass me that strainer, could you?" she asked.

Crystal's eyes darted from one object to the next, searching for what could bear a name such as "strainer." Selecting the object that seemed to be the best candidate, Crystal held the strainer out towards Amanda. "This?"

"Bingo. You pass," the older girl said with a grin as she took the strainer and put it in the sink. "Now stand back, this is hot and it might splat a bit," she cautioned, picking up the pan of pasta, preparing to drain it out.

Quickly, Crystal darted backwards. Just to be safe, she held up one hand and formed a wall of solidified air in front of her to help block any incoming splatter.

The sudden change in air pressure made Amanda's ears pop and she raised her eyebrows at the girl. Huh, my control was never that good. Then again, Fire was my thing. Quickly dealing with the boiling water, she turned off the stove and dumped the drained pasta back into the pot before adding the sauce and stirring. "And there you do - good thing about this place is there's usually stuff in the fridge you can use to make a proper meal without too much effort."

Hoping that the danger of boiling, splatting things was over, Crystal released the air wall and lowered her hand. "Food in the fridge that doesn't require cooking?" Crystal asked incredulously. "Wouldn't it have to be cold?"

"That's what microwaves are for," Amanda said with a grin, nodding at said appliance. "You stick your food in, press the button for how long you want it to heat and then 'start' and there you are." Pulling out several shallow pasta bowls, she added. "If you want cheese or anything on top of this, you'll find a bag of the pre-grated stuff in the fridge too. I hope you don't mind if I cook and run, but I thought I might take something up to Frenchie. She's probably not been eating much lately, with the whole moping thing. She and her boyfriend broke up earlier this week."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," replied Crystal, not wanting to pry into the personal lives of two people she knew nothing about. "Thank-you again for cooking for me. I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time."

The news of Marie-Ange and Doug wasn't exactly private - from what she'd been told, it had happened in the middle of the most public area the school had. "No problem," Amanda said, ladeling pasta into bowls - one for Crystal, one for Angie, one for her. "It was nice to meet you. Sorry about earlier with the stomping and the grr - I'm not normally like that. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"I'll be here. Not usually in the kitchen, of course, but somewhere on the grounds. It was nice to meet you, too."

"Take care, then, Crystal. Don't let the weirdness of this place get to you. Overall, it's not a bad place to be." And with that, Amanda picked up her plates and left, incidentally leaving the debris from her cooking in the sink.

After Amanda left, Crystal searched the various drawers, looking for a knife and a fork. Upon finding the required utensils, Crystal carried the bowl of pasta and the silverware back to her room. Not knowing that Lorna was nowhere close, Crystal was eager to leave before the teacher of Remedial Cooking returned. The thought of cleaning up or washing dishes never even entered her mind. She didn't cook, and cleaning work spaces wasn't one of her strong suits either.