Marie and Sarah, Friday evening

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Sarah and Marie catch up over chocolates and tea.

"...and then Ah woke up, realized Ah was floating above the lake and forgot to keep levitating," Marie said before laughing. It felt good to be catching up with an old friend, but the circumstances made the reunion bittersweet. Her eyes darkened as she looked Sarah in the eyes. "Ok, thats enough small talk and silliness. How are you? And don't give me the standard 'Ah'm fine, Ah heal' response."

"...I'm sore but I'll heal? My classes for this semester, however, are royally fucked. I don't think that 'I was kidnapped by Nazis' was a valid excuse on the syllabus." Sarah shrugged, nibbling on the chocolate in her hand. "I suppose other than that, this is as normal as life gets."

“Yeah…we were discussing the different excuses we’ve all validly had in the past…an’ couldn’t dream of using.” Laughing, she continued. “Ah’d love to see the look on a professor’s face if any of us actually tried.” Wrapping her hands around the mug she held, Marie inhaled deeply. “How long have you been back in the city?” She couldn’t really berate Sarah for not keeping in touch when she herself had dropped off the map.

"A few weeks. I left Japan and came back just in time to enroll for summer classes. I took that as a sign." Sarah glanced at the floor guiltily. "I stopped by the school once for some papers I needed, but I didn't want to cause any drama, so I kept it quiet."

Marie quirked an eyebrow at the guilty look she was all too familiar with using herself. “But the school thrives on drama. We don’t know what to do with out it. And this…” she waved a hand at Sarah. “…is your idea of drama free?”

"Well, the reentry by kidnapping was not my idea. Really." Sarah considered commenting on how the school didn't thrive on her own particular brand of drama, but instead she grinned. "And I am very fucking happy, thank you very much. Drama free, right here."

Knocking on wood, Marie winked at Sarah. “An’ may you stay drama free. Ah swear, we need little counters – ‘It’s been twenty days since Ah was last kidnapped, tortured, taken over by evil or forced to watch the destruction of all my close friends.” Her light tone kept the dire words from sounding too depressing. Instead of questioning Sarah about the ordeal she had just been through, Marie’s mind was focused on a completely different area. “So…Shinobi?” she asked simply.

Sarah shrugged, as if to say there really wasn't much to say on the subject. "It didn't work. He was hoping I'd suddenly wake up one morning and be well-adjusted. It would make his life easier." She leaned forward and grinned conspiratorially. "I'm thinking I could have a lot of fun starting the typical tabloid rumours about him now."

Marie decided not to push for more details when Sarah obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, she clapped her hands while laughing wickedly. “You so should. Ah’ll even help!” Stroking her face with a gloved finger, she closed her eyes in thought. “Um…he’s bald and his hair is really a wig.” She smiled apologetically. “Ah’m not much good at it Ah’m afraid.”

"I was thinking maybe Aliens or something. Boy that pretty can't be from around here, right?" She paused, considering the headline. "Shaw heir actually alien sent to take over the world: Millions of teenagers driven insane. Story at eleven." Then she laughed. "Yeah, perfect."

Breaking out into peals of laughter, it took Marie a few minutes to catch her breath. “You are devious!” Grabbing a piece of chocolate, she popped it in her mouth. “So are ya gonna be staying here permanently now or moving back into your own place in the city?”

Sarah considered the question for a moment. She really didn't know what she was going to do now. Her semester might be unsavable, but that didn't mean she couldn't try again next semester. "I think they want me to stay for a week at least, so they know I'm not having any problems from all this. After that, I don't know what I'm doing."

“If Ah didn’t know you’d say no, Ah’d invite you back to the mansion. Help me keep the little buggers under control,” Marie said with a smirk.

"As much as I like you, I believe that's a 'dear god no'. The school is a nice place to go and visit with friends, but I got my fill of living there the first time around. Besides, what makes you think they'd put me in a position to be a role model? When I left, they wouldn't even let me see my own family without supervision." There might have been some bitterness in the tone of her voice, but she also sounds determined not to let it bother her anymore. They had their reasons, and that was their perogative.

Marie simply shrugged, not missing the bitterness. “Ah can understand that. An’ as long as you promise to visit and not pull the ‘Ah don’t want to cause drama so Ah’m gonna live in the same city and just not tell you’ card again, you won’t hear any complaints from me.” Stretching out on the couch, she stared up at the ceiling. “Plus, you bein’ here just gives me a third reason to come by the brownstone.”

Sarah grinned, shooting a sheepish look towards the floor. She was lucky Paige hadn't throttled her for doing that. "So what are the first two?"

“Amanda and Doug,” she replied. “Seems like half my friends are ending up here.” With a wry grin, she added. “Ok, maybe Ah shoulda said one more reason. Sometimes Ah just need to get out of the mansion. It gets…a little crowded sometimes.”

Sarah nodded in agreement, offering, "Well, you're welcome to come hide wherever I end up. I can't promise I'll ever have tea and chocolate again, but I've got loud music and I'm not a student."

“Ah’ll definitely take you up on that. Heck, Ah’ll bring the chocolate,” she said while grabbing another piece. “At least Dani is sharing the RA mantle with me now. Though these kids don’t seem to be half as much trouble as we were. Ah’ve been back almost two months and the biggest issue has been this one kid’s mutation goin’ a little funky. No demon attacks, evil relatives or hostile takeovers.” As soon as the words were out, Marie mentally chided herself. It was always dangerous to say things were ok.

"Ah well, give it time. I'm sure they'll come up with new and terrifying ways to get into trouble." Sarah glanced down at the half eaten chocolates and smiled hopefully. "You think they'll at least wait until we've finished our chocolate?" And as they both broke into laughter, she added, "Nah, I didn't think so either."