Amanda, Angelo - Wednesday afternoon
Sep. 5th, 2007 02:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsArriving back in New York, Amanda's relieved to find Angelo waiting, as promised.
"Miss? Do you need help disembarking?"
Amanda sighed to herself and shook her head, trying not to snap at the flight attendant. It wasn't the woman's fault she looked like the wrong end of a bar fight and was moving like an old lady. "No, I'm fine. I've got someone meeting me," she explained, hauling herself out of the seat as best she could without wincing. Sitting in a cramped space with bruising to your kidneys wasn't fun. Just as well she only had the one small carry-on bag - she hadn't really intended to stay more than a day or two. Shuffling along with the rest of the passengers, she heaved a sigh of relief when she finally made it into the terminal proper and there weren't people bumping into her. Now to see if Angelo's flight from Tel Aviv hadn't been delayed...
It was right on time, as it happened, and he'd been allowed to use his Blackberry in good time to see her e-mail. He was waiting for her in the arrivals lounge, dressed for Tel Aviv weather and for some inexplicable reason carrying a stuffed fox with very big ears.
Never had Amanda been so grateful for Angelo's habit of wearing very loud shirts during his downtime, although the fox helped her spot him too. Very aware of the bruise on her jaw (nicely purple after three days) she headed over to him, giving him a small, embarrassed smile. "Hey, you. See you made a new friend over there?"
"He's from Domino", Angelo answered, waving the fox vaguely at her. "For Rachel, I think, but she didn't really specify. How're you?"
"Been better," she replied honestly. "Glad you could be here. I need my very not-crazy boyfriend right about now."
"If I was anywhere on this continent, I'd've been here", he told her. "Maybe even if not, if the Pixie was free. An' not crazy I can promise."
He barely finished speaking before he found being rather firmly hugged. Or, to be honest, clung to - there was a pause, and then a muffled "Ow," from where Amanda had her face pressed into the hollow of his shoulder. She shifted a little so she wasn't putting pressure on a bruised bit (difficult, with the bruises her body had collected whilst Margali had it) and then let out a sigh. "I missed you."
The clinging got a blink before he hugged her back, carefully. "Missed you too. You know, you never told me what was goin' on, before you went..."
"I need a t-shirt. The "Welcome to the Evil Family Club" one." At the touch of his arms going around her, Amanda let up on the clinging, just a little, and raised her head so she could talk to him and not into his shoulder. "My mother went crazy and stole my body."
"..." The silence wasn't stunned so much as poleaxed, until he got his head round that one short sentence. "Why'm I feelin' there's a lot more to the story than that?"
"You didn't want the cliff notes version?" She couldn't help but smile a little at the expression on his face, as screwed up as everything was. "She was behind the power boost I was getting. Sent my little sister to impersonate me and steal books, and then when we caught her and took her back to camp, dear old mum ambushed us. Switched bodies with me, caught a few of the others with the same spell by accident and took off." She tilted her head a little to show him the bruise. "That's from them taking her down and bringing her back."
"...I'd ask why", he said slowly, raising a gentle hand to the bruise, "but I'm figurin' 'she went crazy' is about the best answer I'm about to get."
"Pretty much. She was babbling about a bargain, and there's this thing called the Winding Way, sort of a secret magic society thing where they try and get past each other to be king of the castle. Apparently my powers were supposed to give her the boost she needed to get far enough ahead she didn't have to worry about things for a while." Amanda shook her head. "The usual bollocks. Still, she came to her senses again, at the end."
"You ever heard anythin' about this Windin' Way before?" he asked, frowning. "I mean, it sounds like it'd be right up Rack's alley."
"Not that I remember." She laid her cheek on his shoulder again, not wanting to think too much of Rack. "It's pretty secret - I guess the more magic users that know about it, the more competition there is. I only found out about my mother being involved when I went through her stuff after she..." She paused to swallow a sudden, inexplicable lump. Damn jetlag. "After she died."
He looked down at her for a long moment, not sure what to say, then settled for a quiet, "Let's get you home, huh?"
"Yes. Please." Amanda hugged him one last time before beginning to let go. "You can tell me about your trip? The wedding and the baby and the Pack and all? Nice normal stuff?" Her hand slipped into his, Amanda unwilling to let go of him entirely just yet.
"Be happy to." He squeezed her hand. "Little Nate's totally jealous of the new baby, for one thing. Dom said he'd gone all morose when she came to pick me up, but I thought she was jokin'."
Amanda gave him a grateful smile, basking in the flow of his words, the warm grip on her hand, the solid familiarity of his shoulder brushing hers. She was back in New York, and Angelo was taking her home. To her friends, her team, her work. Her life.
Her smile grew stronger. Everything would be fine. She was home.
"Miss? Do you need help disembarking?"
Amanda sighed to herself and shook her head, trying not to snap at the flight attendant. It wasn't the woman's fault she looked like the wrong end of a bar fight and was moving like an old lady. "No, I'm fine. I've got someone meeting me," she explained, hauling herself out of the seat as best she could without wincing. Sitting in a cramped space with bruising to your kidneys wasn't fun. Just as well she only had the one small carry-on bag - she hadn't really intended to stay more than a day or two. Shuffling along with the rest of the passengers, she heaved a sigh of relief when she finally made it into the terminal proper and there weren't people bumping into her. Now to see if Angelo's flight from Tel Aviv hadn't been delayed...
It was right on time, as it happened, and he'd been allowed to use his Blackberry in good time to see her e-mail. He was waiting for her in the arrivals lounge, dressed for Tel Aviv weather and for some inexplicable reason carrying a stuffed fox with very big ears.
Never had Amanda been so grateful for Angelo's habit of wearing very loud shirts during his downtime, although the fox helped her spot him too. Very aware of the bruise on her jaw (nicely purple after three days) she headed over to him, giving him a small, embarrassed smile. "Hey, you. See you made a new friend over there?"
"He's from Domino", Angelo answered, waving the fox vaguely at her. "For Rachel, I think, but she didn't really specify. How're you?"
"Been better," she replied honestly. "Glad you could be here. I need my very not-crazy boyfriend right about now."
"If I was anywhere on this continent, I'd've been here", he told her. "Maybe even if not, if the Pixie was free. An' not crazy I can promise."
He barely finished speaking before he found being rather firmly hugged. Or, to be honest, clung to - there was a pause, and then a muffled "Ow," from where Amanda had her face pressed into the hollow of his shoulder. She shifted a little so she wasn't putting pressure on a bruised bit (difficult, with the bruises her body had collected whilst Margali had it) and then let out a sigh. "I missed you."
The clinging got a blink before he hugged her back, carefully. "Missed you too. You know, you never told me what was goin' on, before you went..."
"I need a t-shirt. The "Welcome to the Evil Family Club" one." At the touch of his arms going around her, Amanda let up on the clinging, just a little, and raised her head so she could talk to him and not into his shoulder. "My mother went crazy and stole my body."
"..." The silence wasn't stunned so much as poleaxed, until he got his head round that one short sentence. "Why'm I feelin' there's a lot more to the story than that?"
"You didn't want the cliff notes version?" She couldn't help but smile a little at the expression on his face, as screwed up as everything was. "She was behind the power boost I was getting. Sent my little sister to impersonate me and steal books, and then when we caught her and took her back to camp, dear old mum ambushed us. Switched bodies with me, caught a few of the others with the same spell by accident and took off." She tilted her head a little to show him the bruise. "That's from them taking her down and bringing her back."
"...I'd ask why", he said slowly, raising a gentle hand to the bruise, "but I'm figurin' 'she went crazy' is about the best answer I'm about to get."
"Pretty much. She was babbling about a bargain, and there's this thing called the Winding Way, sort of a secret magic society thing where they try and get past each other to be king of the castle. Apparently my powers were supposed to give her the boost she needed to get far enough ahead she didn't have to worry about things for a while." Amanda shook her head. "The usual bollocks. Still, she came to her senses again, at the end."
"You ever heard anythin' about this Windin' Way before?" he asked, frowning. "I mean, it sounds like it'd be right up Rack's alley."
"Not that I remember." She laid her cheek on his shoulder again, not wanting to think too much of Rack. "It's pretty secret - I guess the more magic users that know about it, the more competition there is. I only found out about my mother being involved when I went through her stuff after she..." She paused to swallow a sudden, inexplicable lump. Damn jetlag. "After she died."
He looked down at her for a long moment, not sure what to say, then settled for a quiet, "Let's get you home, huh?"
"Yes. Please." Amanda hugged him one last time before beginning to let go. "You can tell me about your trip? The wedding and the baby and the Pack and all? Nice normal stuff?" Her hand slipped into his, Amanda unwilling to let go of him entirely just yet.
"Be happy to." He squeezed her hand. "Little Nate's totally jealous of the new baby, for one thing. Dom said he'd gone all morose when she came to pick me up, but I thought she was jokin'."
Amanda gave him a grateful smile, basking in the flow of his words, the warm grip on her hand, the solid familiarity of his shoulder brushing hers. She was back in New York, and Angelo was taking her home. To her friends, her team, her work. Her life.
Her smile grew stronger. Everything would be fine. She was home.
