Amanda, Marie - Sunday morning

[xp_daytripper]

After breakfast with Angelo, Marie drops in on Amanda. There's gossip and then George decides to hone in on things.



Marie knocked on Amanda's door, casting a worried look around. Angelo had told her that she needed to talk with Marie-Ange, but she wasn't quite ready for that yet. She wanted to process her own feelings about the situation before she had that encounter, so she had been hesitant about going to the brownstone. In the end though, the need to talk with Amanda had won out over the slight chance of running into the Frenchwoman. "Amanda?" she called out, with another concerned look down the hall.

Amanda jumped guiltily at the sound of Marie's voice, and grabbed the werelight that was bouncing next to her shoulder as she made herself some tea. "Sorry, George," she muttered, stuffing the unfortunate spell-light into a kitchen drawer and slamming it shut before it could get out. "Best you stay out of sight."

Raising her voice a little, she called "Coming!" as she headed for the door, casting a backwards glance over her shoulder to make sure the light was staying put. Bloody magic. Already more trouble than it was worth.

As soon as Amanda opened the door, Marie slipped inside and shut it behind her. "Sorry," she said with an apologetic grin. "Too many people livin' here now, y'know?" She ran a hand through her hair. "So how are you doing?" she asked with true concern. "Find what you were looking for in New Orleans?"

"I'm fine." The words came out with practiced ease and a wry smile. "Didn't quite get the answers I wanted, but that's Tante for you. I was just making a cuppa, you want one?"

"Yes please," she said, nervously twisting the cloth of her gloves. "Ah brought biscuits," she said holding up a little bag. "An' Ah feel like such a twit," she said sheepishly. "We just got through a couple major events at the school and my mind is not on any of it."

Amanda raised her eyebrow as she went to grab another mug out of the cupboard. The drawer containing George rattled a little, and she bumped it with her hip. "You're as nervous as a nun in an S&M club," she said, dropping a tea bag into the mug and waiting for the kettle to finish boiling. "What's up?"

Marie didn't even notice the drawer. "Oh, nothing at all. Just, y'know, had a date last night. Regular, normal, nice date. Goodnight kiss at the end and all. 'cept my life never gets to be typical." She leaned against a wall and sighed as her eyes unfocused, staring off into space.

"Date? Oh, right, Doug." Amanda hoisted herself onto the kitchen bench, letting her legs swing as she watched Marie with that particularly penetrating gaze of hers, the one that usually meant she was seeing far more of your reactions than you intended. "So... I'm guessing it went well, if you got a kiss out of it." And she wasn't going to be rude and ask the mechanics of that, even if she was curious about Doug's problem-solving techniques. "How well are we talking about here?"

Marie blushed, but met Amanda's gaze. "Well enough that Ah think there'll be a second date," she said. "Of course, that's up to Doug though. Don't know if Ah lived up to the fantasy." She began twisting the cloth of her gloves again.

"That's Doug, living in fluffy romantic land..." Amanda said wryly. She was torn, though. Marie-Ange was her friend, as was Doug, and she wanted nothing more to see both of them happy. The thing was, they'd seemed so perfect together. They'd been her benchmark for a normal, happy relationship. "So, are you upset because it did go well when you weren't expecting to?" she asked, knowing Marie's issues well.

"Ah wouldn't say upset…worried maybe? Ah mean, Ah haven't dated or done the relationship thing since…" she trailed off, knowing that Amanda could fill in the blank. "Ah don't exactly have a good track record." She ran a hand through her hair. "Ah don't really know what Ah expected though."

"It's Doug." For Amanda, that said everything. "You can expect misunderstandings when one or both of you taking offense at something the other's said, horrible insecurity, him hiding out when things go wrong, but..." And here she smiled a little wistfully. "You can also expect him to be nothing but sweet to you, and do everything in his power to make you happy. 'Cause he's like that. And if you mess with him, I'll figure out a way to rip your head off and feed it to the pigeons." She shrugged a little. "Standard threat from the friend. So, if he asks you out again, and since he got a snog, I'm guessing he will... you two gunna make it a regular thing?"

Marie blinked at that. "He's always been nothing but sweet to me. Ah know that he wants me to be happy. That's all Ah want for him too. Ah would never do anything to hurt him." She looked at Amanda fiercely. "Ah'd hurt myself before Ah'd hurt him." A wan smile surfaced.

"And now that we've taken care of that bit…Ah don't know. Ah mean, Ah want to see where it goes…but Ah have no idea where that might be." She looked down at her gloves. After all, even Doug couldn't be patient forever.

"Doug's not like you and me. Wears his heart on his sleeve, falls in love too easy." The kettle boiled and switched itself off and Amanda slid off the bench to finish making the tea. "So 's easy to hurt him, even if you don't mean to. Be straight up with him about how you feel, and I think you'll be good." Water in the mugs, she crossed to the refrigerator to get the milk, and George's drawer rattled again, a bit louder. "I've got to admit, mate, I'm in a bit of a tight spot here. Your my friend. Doug's my friend. And Marie-Ange is my friend," she continued, hoping to distract Marie from the difficult-to-explain issue of the rattling drawer and the angry werelight. "I want all of you to be happy, but... someone's going to get hurt out of this. Angie's says she's not harbouring any feelings for him, but they dated for a long time. Longer 'n me and Manny." Her eyes clouded a little. "'S hard, moving on from something like that and they weren't fucked up like we were."

Marie heard a noise, but couldn't place her finger on it and shrugged it off. "But weren't they, in their own way? Not in the same way, not at the same level, but Ah mean, the fight they had…they obviously hadn't been talking and things'd been building for a while. At first…Ah thought it was my fault. That if Ah hadn't come back, they'd still be together. But Ah also realized that was exceedingly self-centered." She smiled ruefully. "Ah'm not quite that important. An' sometimes…well sometimes, you do get to transition from that to friendship. Look at me an' Logan."

"I hope they do - at least it'd put an end to the screaming matches. And we're all living in the same building now, so that could get old, fast." Tea made, she passed a mug over to Marie. "And I dunno... for the longest time, I thought of them as what a relationship was supposed to be about. We'd double-date, and Doug wouldn't put Angie down, or make remarks about her horrible taste in clothes or music, or grope her at the table because he was horny. And he never cheated on her." She sipped from her own mug, face hardening a little. "Guess I didn't know shit, hey?"

Marie gratefully accepted the cup of tea. "That's not true. Doug is still that person. He'd never treat anyone poorly, just like ya said before. He's one of the sweetest guys Ah know." She took a sip of tea and thought for a moment. "Just because they didn't end up working out doesn't mean they weren't good when they were together." There was pain in her voice, knowing that she could never have what Doug and Angie had. She quickly took another sip of tea and then looked up abruptly. "Ok, Ah know Ah'm not hearing things. What in the sam hill is that?"

"What noise?" Amanda asked innocently. Too innocently. As if to contradict her on purpose, the drawer rattled again, this time so violently it jolted open ever-so-slightly. A small ball of neon-shaded light squeezed through the crack, zooming up to the ceiling and doing crazy circles around the light fitting. "Ah, that noise," the witch finished lamely.

"But…you…huh?" was Marie's graceful response as the wheels in her mind started turning and things started to click into place. The light bounced around her hair as stared off in a daze, processing. "So Ah'm guessing this little fella here is the reason for your need to see Tante?"

"Meet George." At the sound of the name, the light buzzed over to Amanda, circling her head in tight, angry loops. It gave the impression that if it had been able, it would have been 'phbbt'-ing at her. "And yeah, that'd be the reason why I had to see Tante. Seems the spell she put on me wasn't as permanent as I thought. Apparently I reached some personal milestone and the magic's the prize behind door number three." Her gaze flicked up to Marie's face. "I'm sorry I didn't say. I didn't want to worry anyone, at least not until I worked out what all this was about. I scared a lot of folks last year with the magic and when you've been disarmed, it's easy to forgive you. now... everything's changed."

Marie shrugged. "Doesn't change anything for me. You're still my friend. And if you've reached a milestone…congrats." She watched George with a bit of fascination. "He's so pretty." Looking back at Amanda, she pursed her lips. "But how are you dealing with it?"

A breath Amanda hadn't realised she'd been holding wuffed out of her. "Dealing... interesting question. The sheer panic's gone, and talking to Tante at least made me realise this is actually happening and I'm stuck with it. You know the really ironic thing? The day I went to Charlie's grave, I'd decided I was going to go see her and talk to her about maybe working towards getting it back." She smiled a little. "Be careful what you wish for, eh?"

"Especially around here," Marie said with a grin. "Though if it's what ya wanted, then Ah'm glad it happened." She took a sip of tea and then set her mug on the table. "So is, uh, George always this rambunctious?" she asked while watching the werelight bounce around the room.

"Only when I've tried to stuff him in a drawer." Amanda looked a little embarassed. "I can't turn it off. Tried everything."

"Well that's gonna make this a bit of a difficult secret to keep, huh?" Marie said with a bit of amusement. "He is a tad bit on the noticeable side. Do the colors mean anything?"

"Which'd be why I've been holed up here. Work knows - I had to tell them, but I'd rather it doesn't end up public knowledge at the school just yet. Even with the stuff from last year aside, I don't want to upset Nate... he's taking this whole powers loss of his bad and how's it look, me getting mine back?" Amanda sighed. "I'm still working out the colours - it's a new thing. Tante said something about the magic being different because I'm different."

"Well, Ah think Nate's doing at least a little better now. Ah was, um, able to give him a different look at his situation." There was a slightly impish glint in her eye.
"And his power is still there, so Ah know it'll come back. Ah think he'd be happy for you as long as you're happy." Marie mulled over the rest of what Amanda had said. "Ah can't say Ah know too much about magic, but Ah didn't realize it could change like that."

Amanda's eyebrows rose to somewhere around her hairline. "Do I even want t' know how you know that?" she asked, knowing Nate's habit of acting rashly, especially when injured. The rest she'd answer when she was sure Nate hadn't done something even more dumb than usual.

"Not sure if you really want to know, but…" She lowered her voice and spoke very rapidly. "Ah borrowed his powers for a short bit." Resuming her normal tone, she continued. "He seemed happier after we talked."

The witch blinked at that. "But I thought..." Well, a lot of things, all of them the result of warning after warning about touching Marie's skin. "How about you? Are you okay? Having him in your head... wasn't that part of your problem with your powers last time?" It possibly wasn't the most tactful question, but Amanda never had been good with tact when she was worried.

"Ah'm fine, it was controlled. A very very short touch and Ah made sure he focused his memories. Before…Ah had too much of people in my head and Ah didn't know how to sort them from me. Ah learned how to channel that better while in Canada. And brief contact doesn't seem to affect me the same way. Ah've kinda been experimenting with it, mostly in the field or the DR."

She looked down at her hands. "Ah think it was the full absorption that did it, y'know? The longer Ah touch someone the more powerful they get up there." She shrugged her shoulder and met Amanda's gaze. "Ah'm not saying Ah plan to make a regular habit of it, but Ah've been learning to control it better than Ah ever could before."

"That's... absolutely fucking brilliant." Amanda beamed at Marie. "Don't you see, mate? You're learning control. Little baby steps, yeah, but you're learning how to use it. Which means not being scared of it. And when you're not scared of something... well, it's a hell of a lot easier to get a handle on."

"Yeah…baby steps." Marie looked down at her gloved hands. "Ah just seem able to rein it in some, but…" She shook her head, refusing to speak the hope that always lay within her heart. That one day she'd be able to stop it. "Anyways…magic…is it normal for it to change like that? Or, Ah guess, normal as anything related to magic is?"

Amanda recognised the subject change for what it was and went along with it. "Well, the way Tante's taught me to look at it... magic's like people. The power, the ability, it doesn't come from outside, like I thought. It comes from everything and everyone around you. So the types of magic... they're as different as the people who use 'em. Someone like Strange who's all books and restrained and the rest, his power's the same. Very academic, very subtle. Tante... she's a houdon, a voodoo witch. Her power comes as much from what she wants people to believe as it does from actual magic. Someone like Rack or Selene..." Amanda paused, wincing a little. "They're takers, users. They see the world as something to use, to get power from and that shows in the sort of magic they can do. Me... well, that's what I'm working out. What I used to do, it was little bits and pieces from all over the place, what Rack taught me, what Rom taught me, what Strange and Tante taught me and what I picked up myself. And then what Selene taught me. An utter balls-up. Once I find my own path, things should come a bit easier, or at least that's what Tante told me."

Marie smiled and nodded, but was a little overwhelmed by the mass of information Amanda had just told her. She had always lumped magic into one general category and had no idea that there were so many subcategories within magic. Then again, it made perfect sense. "Wow…that's kinda neat. The magic fits the person."

"Something like that, yeah." Amanda chuckled. "Sounds much simpler when you say it."

"Just because Ah don't understand it nearly as well as you do." Marie ran a hand through her hair. "Though that's gotta make things harder to learn, when you gotta blaze your own trail instead of learning from others."

"You sure you aren't telepathic still?" Amanda teased, grinning. "Yeah, that's exactly it - basically I have to go back to the start, which is why I'm having trouble with George here." And the sound of the name, the werelight flew down to hover by Amanda's shoulder, occasionally bumping her ear or hair with a slight buzz of static. "I'll get it eventually, but in the meantime, it's gunna be hell on my social life. Such as it is," she added wryly. "Not like you social butterfly types."

Marie giggled. "Social butterfly, huh?" She shook her head. "Well, why don't we just plan on some pizza nights here, since the cat's outta the bag with me already." She schooled her expression into one of complete and utter innocence. "Plus, you have more company coming by in a bit, don't ya?"

"Dances, dates, becoming the darling of the media with your whale-lifting exploits... You're turning into a right socialite." Amanda teased back. "But pizza nights and the rest would be good - 's been crazy lately and I think we both could use the downtime. And yeah, Angelo's coming by in a bit - I wanted to tell him about my new development and all, wish him happy birthday in person since I almost missed it." Amanda's expression grew enthusiastic - it was obvious she was looking forward to her friend's visit.

"Am Ah ever gonna live that down? Ah just hope most of my classmates won't realize that Ah'm Shamu girl." Marie was glad she didn't have to hide her smile as she wondered if she'd be the only one going on dates in the nearby future. "Yeah, Ah'm sure Skin'll enjoy celebrating with you."

"Well, he's off to parts unknown with Nate and the rest of Elpis tonight, so it'll have to be a quick one," Amanda replied, unaware of how that might have sounded. "But it'll give us a chance to catch up. Haven't really talked to him since San Diego."

Marie nodded and swirled the remnants in the bottom of her mug. "Well, Ah should probably be off then. He'll probably be here soon and y'all will want some privacy."

"You don't have to, but yeah, I wanted to look up a couple more things, see if I can't work out George's off-switch so I can manage the pub without stuffing him in my jacket pocket." Amanda batted at the light that came down at the sound of its name. "'S too hot for leather and he gets narky if I keep him cooped up. Like you saw."

"A light with an attitude. That is definitely somethin' new. But Ah should probably be getting back to the mansion anyway. Ah want to see if Scott's allowed visitors yet." A slight grimace spread over her face, but she quickly changed it into a wan smile.

Amanda nodded, face sympathetic. "I'm glad he's back in relatively one piece. Anything any of us this side of the tracks can do, you let us know, yeah?"

Marie nodded. "Yeah…right now, Ah think we're just playing the waiting game." Waiting to see how long it would take to heal him inside and out. "So we'll do downtime later this week then? Maybe rent a movie, one about super heroes who live happily ever after?" she said with a wink as she rose from her chair.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Pizza's on me this time, yeah? You just bring the movie and yourself." Amanda grinned. "And any gossip you might have lying around. I miss most of it, living in New York."

Marie let out a groan. "Trust me, that makes you the lucky one. Though Ah guess hearing the gossip is good 'cuz it means Ah'm not in it." She waved to the ball of light flitting around the room. "Bye George."

George swooped over to Marie and lightly touched her nose with a tingle of static. Amanda chuckled. "I think he likes you. Take care, mate, I'll catch you later."