xp_logs | Beer-thirty: Sarah, Amanda

Monday evening. Sarah and Amanda catch-up over a beer, as planned here. They chat about Snow Valley, Angelo, and how not to blame yourself when you've screwed things up.

It was five o'clock on the dot. Not that Sarah had spent the last half an hour counting time down by the seconds or anything, waiting for when she could stop staring at the pile of form letters on her desk. She had things to do, like beer with Amanda. That sounded perfect. Catching up over a friendly drink. Perfect. Yeah.

She didn't run, but her approach could probably still be heard all the way down the hallway. She knocked on the door, and let herself in. "Ready to go Trouble? It's freedom time."

Amanda looked up from the stack of reports about RedX activities she was reviewing, rubbing her eyes a little before grinning at the other girl. "Beer o' clock?" she asked, already setting the last report aside on the pile and pushing herself back from the desk.

"It is. I think we're past due for some fun." She grinned back, leaning against the wall as she waited. "Since I've been here, the only fun we've had has been on the job, and I figure I probably enjoy that part a little more than you do."

Amanda rolled her eyes a little as she shrugged into her jacket. "'Cause getting my arse handed to me in new and exciting ways is a barrel of monkeys, I can tell you," she said dryly. "Tho' I did get to pick up the cute DJ this time at least. Or get picked up - it was sort of a mutual thing." Shoving her phone and her security pass into her pockets, she joined Sarah. "Let's get out of here. Finnigan's all right by you? 'S the one Pete found, with the decent beer."

"At least you didn't have to try and seduce the sleazy kidnapping ring
guy. I was seriously considering just kicking his ass right there in the club, just for fun." Sarah sighed dramatically, turning to walk out the door. "Fine by me. Beer is beer is beer."

"Bite your tongue, beer heathen," Amanda snickered as they headed for the elevator. She waved to Pete as they passed his office, pausing to tell him not to work too hard. "And for real? You did brilliantly with that bloke. Just wish I hadn't fucked things up when it came down to it."

"Not your fault," Sarah said almost automatically, no thought involved. "If we blamed ourselves for every time we tried to help and 'fucked things up', we'd have quit a long time ago. You did a lot of good things too, regardless of what else happened. We got the kids out. As someone who's been there, that counts for a lot."

Amanda gave her friend a grateful smile. "Sorry, it's just... so fucking frustrating, you know? I've done that spell a dozen times before last year, and no problems. Hell, it's the one I used to take down Nate when Mistra reconditioned him." She shrugged. "Now? It makes cockroaches." She shuddered a bit. "I fucking hate those things."

Sarah shrugged. "I used to say that at the end of the world it'll be me and the cockroaches. But seriously though, you just need some more work. As annoyed as that makes me when I hear it myself, sometimes that's really all you need." She grinned, throwing an arm loosely around the younger girl's shoulders. "You just need to kick your powers back into submission, that's all."

Amanda relaxed into the hug, feeling a little whiny. "Yeah, you're probably right. Won't be trying that spell again, tho'." By now they'd reached the elevator, and there was a cheerful "ping!" as the doors opened. The business types inside looked at the two girls a little sideways, although it was hard to tell whether it was from the hugging or Sarah's horns and Amanda's leather jacket. Amanda grinned evilly and leaned over to whisper in Sarah's ear. "I'm always tempted to do something that'd break their brains whenever we're in this thing. Pompous gits."

"Like we don't do that just by existing?" Sarah considered for a moment and returned the evil look. "Or we could just giggle until they wonder what we know that they don't."

At that Amanda did giggle. "Oh, I missed this," she said, slinging her arm around Sarah's waist, other passengers of the elevator be damned. "Sorry I've been scarce lately. Talk about racking up the frequent flyer miles."

"Like I'd have been much fun? I was regrowing fucking organs in my spare time." She tugged the bottom of her shirt up, displaying her scars. One of the other passengers in the elevator glanced over and quickly looked away, and Sarah shot him a look that dared him to say something. She almost wished he would.

The other girl winced a bit - she knew how much it took to scar Sarah. The elevator reached the ground floor and they disembarked, the other passengers practically fleeing as soon as they were clear. Amanda ignored them, slipping her arm through Sarah's and leading her through the foyer to the exit closest to the pub. "Still, we're both in the same country and on our feet and raring to move on with things, yeah? Look out New York," she joked.

"Exactly. Hide your men and leave the booze out on the front stoop. We'll take care of it, and probably the men while we're at it." Sarah winked at Amanda, laughing as they walked down the street arm in arm.

"Tho' I think you've gotten a head start on me, in the men department any way," Amanda replied, keeping her tone light. "That little display of yours the other day - how long has that been going on?"

Sarah smiled, unfazed. "Since you went to Rio. We went clubbing, there was drinking and teasing, and well, that was that."

"Good to see someone listens to me, then," Amanda said, covering up the little pang she felt with the bantering tone. They'd reached the pub and she disengaged from Sarah to open the door. "'S good - the two of you fit really well and you could do with some fun."

Sarah followed behind, nodding in agreement. "He's not a philanthropic prissy boy like the last one I latched on to." Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. "But what can you do?"

"Make do, I suppose?" the witch said, teasingly. The barman nodded as she caught his eye and jerked his head in the direction of one of the booths. "I think I come here too often," Amanda said with a snort as she slid into the booth seat. "They're starting to hold a spot for me."

"VIP treatment, eh?" Sarah grinned, sliding into the other side of the booth. "Not bad. I could live with that.."

"Benefits of drinking with the not-really-the boss," Amanda snorted. "Pete and I come down here fairly often, and Wanda's been known to shout her assistant a few as well, tho' not so often with all the travelling." A member of the barstaff came to take their orders and when she'd gone, Amanda continued. "So, seems you're settling down a bit, what with the boy and all. How're you finding the whole Snow Valley set up?"

Sarah's eyebrows raised slightly, and she shook her head. "Oh, we're not anything serious, just a couple of friends having a good time. I don't think either one of us is up for a big relationship thing right now." Sarah paused to consider her question, and shrugged. "It's not bad. I'm required to be vaguely personable during office hours, but they're not trying to pull any of that 'let us help you change your life' bullshit."

The surge of relief was perhaps as irrational as the disappointment. They'd seemed so right together, and she wanted her friends to be happy, but on the other hand... No, stop that train of thought right there. Been there, wasn't going to happen, get the fuck over it you bloody moron. "Well, it'd be pretty hypocritical of us to give you shit when half of us are total headcases," she replied aloud, answering the second half instead. "Between Betsy, Remy, Pete and me, plus whatever damage Sofia has and Doug and Angie imploding... 's not like we've got any call to tell someone how to do things." Their drinks arrived, and she gulped the first mouthful. "Still, it was good to see Angelo smiling like that - he's been such a bloody monk since Paige dumped him, I've been worried about him." She shrugged a little awkwardly. "He's stuck by me, even through last year's shite. I want him to be happy."

"He's good like that." Sarah smiled, taking her own drink in her hand. "When I was back at Xavier's, you two were always the first to come running with cigarettes when I was having a bad day." Or week. Hell, month was probably appropriate.

"The Nictotine Twins," Amanda recalled with a wistful smile. And speaking of which... she pulled out her cigarettes and offered the pack to Sarah. Yay for traditional Irish pubs with no smoking bans. "I wish I hadn't put him through all that shite, but I'm bloody glad he stuck around. I dunno what I'd do if he wasn't there."

Sarah took one, pulling her own lighter from her pocket to light the end. "Not much you can do, besides let him know you're grateful." She moved an ashtray from the far side of the table to inbetween them, adding "And be there for him if he ever needs the favor returned."

"Oh, he knows I'm there. Least, I hope so." Amanda lit her own cigarette, leaning back in the booth with a sigh of contentment. "I was thinking of getting a group together next weekend, going down to Silver if people are all right with that. Now those bastards are gone, should be safe enough." She grinned. "And that Mark seems like a decent bloke. We could grab Ange, maybe Marie... too bad the Pixie's off to school or we could have nabbed her as well."

"You think that club can handle all of us at once? That's just asking for an alien invasion or some obscure guerrilla army to come in and trash the place." She grinned, taking a few sips of her beer as she considered all the possiblities. "Though, it could be fun anyway, giant robots or no."

"I think we could handle things. I'll poke Angie and Doug too - they've both been doing the hiding thing lately. And if anything does happen I can hide behind you lot whilst you see it off." Amanda chuckled a little, flicking ash into the tray.

"Sounds like eveyone more than made up for not having a monster hiding in the basement. Go figure." She took a puff of her cigarette, shooting the younger girl an evil grin. "Maybe if it's evil old ladies, that cockroach thing could come in handy."

Amanda twitched a little. "Don't even joke about that," she said sourly. "Between that and giant bugs in Rio, I'm developing a complex." She grinned slightly at the end, 'though. "Another one to add to the pile. Should keep Sofia entertained, at the least."

Sarah laughed, putting out her finished cigarette in the ashtray, "Well good. I imagine Sofia would be terrifying if she ever got bored."

"Accidental roaches as a public service?" Amanda asked, raising her eyebrow, her humour returning.

"Well, maybe not a service for the public at large, but the rest of us certainly thank you for keeping her busy." Sarah grinned and finished her drink. "Next round's on me."