Amara/Mondo & Amara/Julio: Two afternoons

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A bit late. Yesterday afternoon, Amara goes outside for a break and spies Mondo. They experiment with their powers and he introduces her to sumo.

Again the weather drew Amara outside. It seemed to be doing that frequently as autumn approached. The sky was a crisper blue, the air fresher, the trees beginning to turn the colors of fire, and although she should really be studying, she couldn't resist the world outside her window. She decided upon one of the trails Nathan had showed her, book tucked under her arm just in case she got inspired to return to her studies. Although that seemed far less likely as she entered the trees.

Mondo was, on the other hand, really hating the weather. He was from the South Pacific where it was universally warm year-round. He was bundled up in a heavy sweatshirt and jeans, one leg of said jeans bunched oddly around his knee. But he loved to experience new things so there he sat on the back porch, one leg propped up, tapping a spiral notebook tunelessly with the eraser end of his pencil. Next to his chair sat his Earth Science textbook, open to Chapter 1.

Amara caught sight of someone, a rather large someone, as she made her way around the house, skirting around trees and fallen branches. She considered continuing her walk, but decided to properly introduce herself to another new face. She had seen Mondo around, but had yet to speak with him. Book wrapped in her arms, Amara walked up to him, peering down at his opened text book. "Hello. My name is Amara. Are you enjoying classes so far?"

"Hi!" he said to the new girl. "Classes are ... well, they are." He said with an expanse of shrug. "I like Earth Science because that way I can introduce myself to all the different rocks." he said with a slight blush.

She sat down on a lower porch step and placed her book on her lap. "I wish I had thought of taking Earth Science. I think it would help me learn more about my mutation. But I decided upon Chemistry, so I'll have to wait." She tried to decipher his last sentence and couldn't grasp his meaning. "How do you introduce yourself to rocks?"

Mondo blushed again. "Like this." he said, picking up a stone from the ground next to him. "Hello, stone." he told it with a grin, rolling it about in his palm. "It's part of my power - I say hello to the stone, get a feel for what it is, so that if I ever need to borrow its traits I can. It's just being polite." he stammered.

Amara beamed at him. "I think that's wonderful. Does your body look like stone as well when you use your power, or do you simply adopt their characteristics? Like, diamond when you need to cut something?"

She picked up a stone and had an idea. "Hello, stone. May I use you for an experiment?" At the stone's silent consent, she closed her eyes and focused. She remembered the day on the lake shore, how easy it had been to transform the rocks. Pushing her power into the rock, she willed it to change. But it stayed, stubbornly, just a stone. "Well, that didn't work."

Mondo took the stone back from her hand and concentrated for a moment. Inside of his head, he asked the stone for its strength and felt the solidity race through his body - carefully around his wounded knee.

"No visible change." he said, without reckoning on Amara's awareness of the Earth and all of its bits.

Those words were like a light bulb in Amara's head. "That's it!" she cried. "Visible change!" She jumped up and away from the porch, chose a stone a random, and concentrated. Her powers, while not wholly controlled, were becoming easier to turn on. She remembered her anger that day in New York and instead of stamping it down, she let it blossom through her. The magma followed. In her molten form now, she willed the stone to change. And it did, willingly, into a small ball of molten rock. "I can only transform stone when I'm in my molten form!"

With little fanfare, she let the anger and magma recede. Normal once again, she rejoined Mondo on the porch. "Sorry," she said, ducking her head, suddenly embarrassed. "I had to try. I shouldn't have done that on my own."

"Do that again!" he exclaimed, clapping his stoneform hands in delight. "I want to try something of my own."

Amara lifted her head and grinned. "Okay. I should get away from the house, though. Maybe closer to the lake, in case of emergencies. Will that be okay with you?" At least with the lake nearby she could throw herself in if something with wrong.

Mondo thought about it for a second. "Yeah, sure!" he said agreeably, struggling to his feet. He obediently followed Amara out towards the lake, still holding onto the stone's solidity in his body.

Safely on the lake shore and away from the drying leaves and dying branches of autumn, Amara resumed for molten form, this time with less struggle. She scooped up some large rocks and began lobbing them into the lake, miniature suns burning briefly before the water extinguished their flames. "What do you want to try?"

"Hold onto one of them for a moment..." he said, waiting for her to do precisely that. As she held the molten rock in her hand, he extended a fingertip to poke at it, asking the molten rock if he could borrow its attributes as well.

Unfortunately for him, the rock answered him in a way that he didn't understand, so he stayed the way he was.

"Darn. That didn't work." he said, but rallied quickly. "That's OK, though! I'll ask Dr MacTaggert about it the next time I see them."

"You were trying to gain the characteristics of one of my molten rocks?" Amara wondered if that was even possible. What attributes could be gained from a molten rock? She noted his disappointment and offered, "We could both talk to Dr. MacTaggert. Maybe if I heat the rock differently, or use a different rock? It would also be good training for me."

"Maybe. Can't hurt to try, right? I'll get it, I know I will." he said with the self-confidence of the very, very naive. "But anyway, that's what I do. Your power is very pretty." he told her with another gigantic smile.

Amara powered down and blushed. "Thank you. It's taken me some time to think of it as pretty, but I'm getting there." She sat down on the beach, legs tucked under her, and stared out across the lake briefly before turning back to Mondo. "So what other classes are you taking this quarter besides Earth Science?"

"Whole bunch of things." he said. "Math, English, Powers, all the normal stuff." he said. "I like them just fine, but everybody's in such a rush, you know?" he complained. "You?"

"I know what you mean. School in Nova Roma was much more relaxed. There was never any set curriculum and you could work at your own pace." Amara began drawing in the damp sand. Slowly, a credible approximation of a Snuffleupagus emerged. "I'm taking Trigonometry, Russian, English Literature, and Shop class with Mr. Summers. I'm also contemplating an independent study of modern American history, so I can become better acclimated."

"SNUFFY!" Mondo exclaimed at Amara's sand-drawing. He used a fat finger to add a garbage can next to Snuffy - with considerably less artistic skill - then a figure popping out of the garbage can with great big googly eyes.

With a laugh, Amara expanded the sand drawing, adding a couple lines for streets and buildings. Then she added a tall bird with long, skinny legs and a fluffy crown. It may have looked a tad like a chicken with an afro on stilts, but who else besides Big Bird could it be? "I wish we had a way to color the sand," she mused.

Mondo just shrugged, then looked at the drawing in the sand. Then he opened his mouth and sang.

"Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street..."

Then he burst into giggles, unable to complete the rest of the song. "I love Sesame Street! It was one of my favorite things!"

Amara grinned at Mondo's enthusiasm. "I've only just discovered Sesame Street, but it is one of my favorite new things." As an afterthought, she added two characters, one with a wide face wearing horizontal stripes, another with a long face wearing vertical stripes. "What else did you like to do growing up?"

"I played football, I wrestled, I swam a lot." he said, lost for a moment in memories. "We worked hard - we were a fairly small family so we had to work harder than most. Just Mom, Dad, me, and my brothers and sisters. Plus Grams." he said with a smile. "How about you? What did you like to do when you were a little?"

"Your family does not sound small to me! It's just me and my dad now. I'm an only child and my mother passed away a couple years ago. I never knew my grandparents." Amara wondered briefly at that. Neither her mother nor father would talk about their parents. "But like your family, we had to work hard. When I had free time, I gardened, went for walks, played with the younger children, read any book I could get my hands on." Looking across the lake, Amara asked, "Is it hard to swim?"

"Dude! Swimming's totally easy!" he exclaimed, lapsing into Hawaiian surfer dialect for a moment. "I swim a lot now because it's good for my knee." he explained.

"Oh? What happened to your knee?" Amara asked, voice tinged with concern. She had wanted to try swimming, and was thinking about asking Mondo to help her learn, but not if he was injured.

"It's better now. I was a wrestler, and I got hurt in my qualifying match." he said. "It happens - sumo is not a forgiving sport as far as injuries go. That's when my mutation manifested, and now here I am!" he said cheerfully.

"You had a very safe manifestation then." Amara was slightly envious. Why couldn't she have been blessed with a manifestation that didn't kill people or threaten her town? "What is sumo wrestling? Wrestling is a sport, I know. But what is different about sumo wrestling?"

Mondo just grinned at that. "I'd show you, but I can't wrestle anymore. Buuuuuut, I do have some DVDs that I brought with me of sumo. We could watch, with popcorn and cold drinks?" he asked hopefully.

He was pretty sure he liked this new girl. She had a nice smile, and blonde hair was incredibly exotically cute.

"I'd love to," Amara smiled brightly. Mondo's jovial nature was certainly cheering and she could use as much cheer as she could find. She stood up, brushing the sand from her pants, and offered him her arm on a whim. "Shall we?"

Mondo took her arm and tried not to expire on the spot from sheer happy. It took him longer to stand up right thanks to his knee, but he managed it without putting too much strain on Amada. "Sounds good to me!" he said cheerfully, and then led her back into the Mansion.

~*~

And a bit early. Later today, Julio feels Amara practicing her powers in the quarry. They experiment with their powers and mutually agree to never do that again.

Amara closed her eyes again and concentrated, drawing up magma from the earth's mantle, slowly, slowly, to prevent the ground from shaking or cracking. But her concentration slipped and the energy spread out beneath her feet, causing a small temblor. Amara sighed and let the power slide back. Shedding her molten form, she took a quick drink from her water bottle and stretched. Try and try again, until she could raise magma without disturbing the earth. After a steadying breath, she resumed her molten form to tap into the mantle one more time.

This was, bizzare to say the least. Not that a girl turning into lava before his eyes was weird. Julio's sense of what was weird and what was not had been broken the day Crystal's sister's hair slid over his shoe in its quest for granola. No, what was strange was the definite power boost he was getting. He wasn't too sure, but from all the tests that had been performed on him, his powers had to do something with absorbing and manipulating seismic waves. This girl was creating them.

Julio conspicuously knocked over some rocks, hoping to get her attention. Sometimes when people were concentrating, they couldn't hear very well. He sure as hell couldn't.

The noise startled her, drawing her attention away from her task, and the power sunk back into the earth with a noticeable jolt. Mierda. With a frustrated sound, Amara looked for the source of the noise and spotted Julio nearby. "Was that you?" she asked with a tad more irritation in her voice than she would have liked.

Ah. Nice. "Yes, that was me. Sorry. I tripped. I am clumsy sometimes." Julio shrugged, meeting her eyes squarely. "I am Julio Richter. You would be Amara, yes?"

"Yes, I am." Amara released her molten form and dropped to the ground, running a hand through her hair. It was not fair to take out her problems on others. "I apologize for my tone, Julio. It is frustrating, and exhausting, having your power not work the way you want it to. You caught me at a bad moment."

The boy smiled ruefully. He knew all about it. "You were doing well, from what I saw. And felt," he made his way a little closer to Amara. "I could feel you, all the way over by the lake," he pointed.

She groaned and placed her head on her knees. "You could feel me? I didn't know the earthquakes traveled that far. I am sorry. I will try to be more careful next time." She had to get this worked out or she would be causing earthquakes whenever she used any aspect of her powers except her molten form.

Julio had to laugh. "No, not the earthquakes. They were so minor no one outside the quarry probably felt them. I am not sure if they told you about me. I am also known as 'earthquake boy.'" He gave her a mock-bow, "My power is earthquakes. I could feel you, because you were creating seismic waves. I sort of. . ." he trailed off, trying to think of the best way to explain it. "I can only manipulate what is already there. You create them. I came over here because I felt something new. I was curious."

"I am glad only you could feel me. I could not stand the humiliation of teachers rushing out to see what the problem was." In response to his bow, Amara inclined her head imperiously, impish smile on her face. "If you are 'earthquake boy,' then I am 'lava girl.' Although I appear to be doing very little of that." She mused over what he had said and ventured, "So if your power is manipulating seismic waves, and a side-effect of my power is creating them, then I would be a good training partner for you, yes? It is easy enough for me to shift the earth, harder for me to not, hence the practice."

"Or Mr. Marko threatening to box your ears if you break something in the mansion." Julio wondered if Amara had been granted permission to come to the quarry as well. And if she knew it was off-limits at certain hours for Mr. Marko's 'Alone Time.' "I would think that we would be suited to work together. Have you talked with Miss Dane yet?"

"I think I would like to stay as far away from Mr. Marko as possible. You are not the first person to mention his...penchant for being grumpy." She had never considered asking for permission, assuming the quarry was open to all. After all, Mr. Haller had mentioned it; he would have told her she needed permission if it was necessary. "I have talked to Miss Dane. She's going to be one of my instructors in powers training."

"Ah, we could be working together then." he clapped his hands together. "I will have to tell Ms. Dane about the ah.... power boost?" he felt a little lame saying the last.

"I think working together is a wonderful idea. Our powers mesh well. Miss Dane will be pleased." Amara had an idea suddenly and it was very, very tempting. Weighing the pros and cons, she took a swig from her water bottle and stretched. "Would it be irresponsible of me to offer you a small power boost right now? Just to see what we can do together?"

Julio rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He liked the low power level here. It was much better than the alternative. But, here in the quarry should be safe enough. He gave Amara a wary look, though. "Okay, a little experiment. But something low-key. Try....I don't know, calling an earthquake, and I'll see if I cannot throw it. Or something."

If Julio thought he was the only wary one in the quarry, he would be mistaken. Amara was still not all that confident in her powers, but she wanted to try. "I can do that. One small earthquake, coming up." Her molten form blazed to life within seconds and she slowly reached down into the mantle. As the magma began to rise through cracks and crevices beneath the ground, she shifted the energy, causing a small quake. A tad larger than she wanted, but still small enough to be easily managed.

The boy had enough to time to briefly wonder how she kept from burning her clothes off before the ground began to shake. He immediately felt a surge of panic, as it the feeling he got was far too similar to one he has experienced during the summer, Julio closed his eyes and tried to grab the small quake. He stumbled back briefly, a small sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead. Stop, he told the ground. Just stop.

Amara watched him, her curiosity turning to panic as she saw him stumble. "Mierda," she whispered around a growing lump of fear. She didn't know what to do, didn't know the scope of his powers, or her own. So she waited, hoping the quake would subside on its own like all the others she had created.

The pressure was enormous, nothing like San Diego, but still larger than anything Julio had consciously handled. He grit his teeth and set his stance. He didn't know how to stop this quake, but if he could just...

The air rippled in front of the pair and slammed into the other side of the wall. The shaking subsided, but the roar as part of the wall collapsed was deafening.

"Chispas! Now if that won't bring the teachers, I don't know what will," Amara intoned once the ringing in her ears faded and her stomach returned to its proper place. "You did it, Julio. We did it. You manipulated the earthquake. Miss Dane may kill us for this, but at least we can say we were successful as a pair." She handed him a spare water bottle and sat down, her legs suddenly weak. "Yes, I think I am done for the day."

"Uh-Huh," Julio said weakly. He accepted the water with shaking hands and found a boulder to sit on. That was a very stupid thing to do, he privately decided. Very cool, but very dumb. He was never going to manipulate another earthquake without supervision again.

Amara relaxed for a few minutes, watching the clouds flit through the same endlessly blue autumn sky. That had gone better than expected, and no one had come running yet, for which she thanked the gods. Rolling onto her side, she examined the boy from behind her very bedraggled hair. She concluded that she was never going to let Julio manipulate another earthquake without supervision again.

Julio stood experimentally, his legs felt rubbery but he could walk without falling over or passing out. He handed Amara back her water bottle. "I am heading back now," he said a little thickly. If he went to pass out now he might not sleep through dinner.

Amara lifted up onto one elbow and nodded at him. "I think I will do the same in a few minutes. Maybe once my legs start working again." She lay back on the ground and mumbled to herself, "Never again. Never, ever again."

"~Welcome to my world,~" Julio muttered under his breath in Spanish. "If you are not back by sunset, I will tell someone so they can carry you back." He started up the path out of the quarry. "See you later."

Amara faintly caught the muttered Spanish. Both of our worlds, she thought. But I refuse to live in fear of this. She managed a wave. "Do not worry about me. Look after yourself. It would not do to have my training partner in a coma."

"Bah. I had one. It is not so bad," he called from near the lip of the quarry before giving one final wave and disappearing.

Amara waited a few minutes before getting to her feet. She wobbled a bit, but steadied quickly. After retrieving her water, she began to walk back to the mansion, planning the rest of her day. Shower, food, and sleep. Maybe in that order if she was lucky.