Amanda, Marie - Thursday lunchtime
Sep. 6th, 2007 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsThe girls catch up after Amanda's rather tumultuous week.
Ow.
Right now, it seemed like there wasn't a single place on Amanda's body that wasn't bruised or aching in some way. When her friends and brother took someone down, they did it rather thoroughly. But in a weird way, Amanda relished the pain - it was her pain, her body, and while the swap had only been a few days, it had been quite long enough for her.
Besides, she wouldn't have to pay a bar tab for weeks at this rate.
Shifting slightly (and wincing, which got her another guilty look from across the way), she reached for a new file to start reading. She'd insisted on coming to work, bruised and all - she'd been off sick so much this year already, and she was heartily sick of her apartment. Besides, work wasn't so much more strenuous than lying on the couch at home, especially if she got Illyana to do the running around.
"And just whatdya think you're doin', being at work after all this?" Marie said, walking around Amanda's desk to gingerly pat the blond witch's shoulder. "You should be resting."
"Hey." Amanda gave her friend a smile, carefully because of the bruise Wanda had left on her jaw. "Should have known you'd turn up as soon as I showed signs of life." She lay the file down, leaned back in her chair a little. "And this isn't that much work. After a month on and off being at home resting, I figured I could heal just as easily here as there. You want to go grab coffee or an early lunch or something?"
"Sure, if it'll get you out of here," Marie said with a small smile. "And Ah won't feel as bad grillin' you for details beyond that email if Ah'm feeding you."
"Free lunch, huh? For that I might even give you the whole story with shadow puppets." Amanda grunted a little as she pushed herself to her feet. "I swear, next time I'm sparring with Mark, I'm claiming a free kidney shot," she complained as she collected her wallet, phone and keys. "When the trenchcoats take someone down, they do it hard. But I"m getting ahead of myself. Lunch place, then storytime."
"If Ah throw in dessert to Ah get the funny voices too?" Marie teased, heading towards the door. "But seriously, if you don't want to talk about it, Ah can serve to distract ya as well...you must be tired of telling folks about it by now."
Amanda followed, exchanging a nod with Mark as they went past the reception desk and into the elevator. "Actually, since most of the people here were there, not so much. It's just... weird. The way things happened, the way it turned out... I'm still working out how I'm supposed to feel."
"Don't know if there's a way you're supposed to feel," Marie said as the pair stepped outside. "Ah'd imagine you'd be kinda mixed up in how you're feeling, from what Ah understand of what happened."
"My mother tried to steal my body and left me to die in hers. It's not exactly something you'd find in your psych books," Amanda said wryly, although there was a certain flicker of hurt in her expression. "And here I was thinking the only Xavier's club I'd be part of would be "Went Evil"."
"Just so long as you don't making joining new groups a habit...the parent gone temporarily insane group was looking low on membership, but just because the other ones haven't gone new members recently doesn't mean you need to join." Marie teased, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "But yeah, no psych books for this one, just a friend who can listen to whatever you need to talk about."
Amanda gave Marie a grateful look, and a squeeze of a sleeve-covered arm. "I spent most of my life hating my mother, because I thought she'd sold me. Then I found out that was a lie, and for a little while, I had what I'd always wanted as a kid, a mother who cared about me. She was a tough old bitch all right, but she did care. Then came the stuff with Selene and she throws me out of the family, just like that and I'm back to where I'd started, except I thought I deserved it this time." She shrugged a little helplessly. "I forgave her, before she died, but I'm still angry at her. It wasn't enough to cast me out, she had to try and steal my life as well? And for what? Some mystical version of Snakes and Ladders, from what I could make out."
"You can forgive someone and still be angry at them," Marie replied softly. "But Ah bet that years down the road, you'll be glad you did...the anger will fade with time, but the chance to forgive, well, that was limited. Your mom...she made mistakes, but Ah think she did care about you. She just didn't know how to act all the time."
They reached the small cafe the Snow Valley people used on a regular basis for lunch, on account of it being less busy than most of the others, and the booths in the back being relatively private. "There wasn't an autopsy 'cause of religious reasons - Romani don't like defiling the dead - but from what everyone says, I think she was sick. Like... her mind was going. When I was stuck in her body, it was like there was this blanket between me and the world. I couldn't think, couldn't focus... Half the time I didn't know where or when I was." Amanda sighed. "I don't know if I'm telling myself that to make myself feel better about things, tho'."
"Dementia maybe," Marie said. "But that musta been scary, being in someone else's body and having that lack of control. And then coming back to a body that, uh, looks a little worse for the wear."
In mid-wince as she took her seat, Amanda snorted a laugh instead. "This? 'S not much more than a heavy training session with Wanda, but by all accounts Margali couldn't fight worth shite. Lots of flashy powers, not so much of the ducking. The magic's gunna be out for a few more days, I think - she pushed things pretty hard, and I've got enough brain damage without adding to it." She made a face and picked up the menu. "It'll heal. How about you? What's been going on in the world of Ms. D'Ancato?"
"Yeah, Ducking 101 should be a required fighting class. People'd be surprised how often ducking helps," Marie said, making a mental note to adjust some of the DR training exercises. "As for my world...uh. Well, boring comparatively. You already know Ah saw Irene again...other than that, just been getting ready for classes and spending time with Gar. Ah've become boring."
"That's what you get, dating a cop," Amanda teased, not at all serious. "Maybe Ange and I should take you two old fogeys out, get you out and about again." She sobered a little, however, and asked: "So, how'd things go with the crazy old pre-cog this time?
"Well, she didn't tell me Ah had to make a decision to affect the rest of the world...and Ah can't really talk about some of the rest of it. Short story? Ah've got another diary. It's just as convoluted as the last...so Ah don't really understand their purpose when they never seem to help. They only mean anything after the fact," Marie said, setting her menu down a little harder than she needed to.
"And she hasn't let you know why she's giving them to you either?" Amanda asked, a touch sympathetically. "I'd suggest seeing what Tante thought of 'em, but she's not much better with the convoluted. Must be a pre-cog thing, tho' Angie's pretty free of it most days. Except when she hasn't had her coffee, any way."
"It's about choices Marie," the Southern girl said, doing her best to take on Irene's carefully cultured and measured voice, making a face when she finished. "That's all Ah ever get. Choices. And yeah, Ah think Marie-Ange mentioned something about showing the diaries to Tante. Can't hurt, right?"
"You've never met Tante." There was respect under Amanda's words, however. "I could always give her a call, maybe even get Remy to give her a copy of some of these things. He's been down there a lot on Guild business lately. Which was just as well for my little sister - if Remy and Pete had been in the place when she was caught pretending to be me, she would have gotten a lot worse than a slapping."
"Can't be easy, to be her though," Marie said. "Not that it excuses what she did, but she hasn't had an easy life either. And from what Ah know of Margali...well, Ah won't speak disrespectfully of the deceased, but she never seemed to go out of her way to make life easier on anyone."
"That much is true. Leading the clan, being responsible for everyone all by herself... it made her hard. And lonely too, I think." Amanda sighed, and then shook her head. "Any way. I'll be fine - just processing things." She gave Marie a wry smile. "Just another episode in the mutant soap opera, yeah?"
"At least that should fill the quota for the month," Marie said, returning an equally wry smile.
Ow.
Right now, it seemed like there wasn't a single place on Amanda's body that wasn't bruised or aching in some way. When her friends and brother took someone down, they did it rather thoroughly. But in a weird way, Amanda relished the pain - it was her pain, her body, and while the swap had only been a few days, it had been quite long enough for her.
Besides, she wouldn't have to pay a bar tab for weeks at this rate.
Shifting slightly (and wincing, which got her another guilty look from across the way), she reached for a new file to start reading. She'd insisted on coming to work, bruised and all - she'd been off sick so much this year already, and she was heartily sick of her apartment. Besides, work wasn't so much more strenuous than lying on the couch at home, especially if she got Illyana to do the running around.
"And just whatdya think you're doin', being at work after all this?" Marie said, walking around Amanda's desk to gingerly pat the blond witch's shoulder. "You should be resting."
"Hey." Amanda gave her friend a smile, carefully because of the bruise Wanda had left on her jaw. "Should have known you'd turn up as soon as I showed signs of life." She lay the file down, leaned back in her chair a little. "And this isn't that much work. After a month on and off being at home resting, I figured I could heal just as easily here as there. You want to go grab coffee or an early lunch or something?"
"Sure, if it'll get you out of here," Marie said with a small smile. "And Ah won't feel as bad grillin' you for details beyond that email if Ah'm feeding you."
"Free lunch, huh? For that I might even give you the whole story with shadow puppets." Amanda grunted a little as she pushed herself to her feet. "I swear, next time I'm sparring with Mark, I'm claiming a free kidney shot," she complained as she collected her wallet, phone and keys. "When the trenchcoats take someone down, they do it hard. But I"m getting ahead of myself. Lunch place, then storytime."
"If Ah throw in dessert to Ah get the funny voices too?" Marie teased, heading towards the door. "But seriously, if you don't want to talk about it, Ah can serve to distract ya as well...you must be tired of telling folks about it by now."
Amanda followed, exchanging a nod with Mark as they went past the reception desk and into the elevator. "Actually, since most of the people here were there, not so much. It's just... weird. The way things happened, the way it turned out... I'm still working out how I'm supposed to feel."
"Don't know if there's a way you're supposed to feel," Marie said as the pair stepped outside. "Ah'd imagine you'd be kinda mixed up in how you're feeling, from what Ah understand of what happened."
"My mother tried to steal my body and left me to die in hers. It's not exactly something you'd find in your psych books," Amanda said wryly, although there was a certain flicker of hurt in her expression. "And here I was thinking the only Xavier's club I'd be part of would be "Went Evil"."
"Just so long as you don't making joining new groups a habit...the parent gone temporarily insane group was looking low on membership, but just because the other ones haven't gone new members recently doesn't mean you need to join." Marie teased, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "But yeah, no psych books for this one, just a friend who can listen to whatever you need to talk about."
Amanda gave Marie a grateful look, and a squeeze of a sleeve-covered arm. "I spent most of my life hating my mother, because I thought she'd sold me. Then I found out that was a lie, and for a little while, I had what I'd always wanted as a kid, a mother who cared about me. She was a tough old bitch all right, but she did care. Then came the stuff with Selene and she throws me out of the family, just like that and I'm back to where I'd started, except I thought I deserved it this time." She shrugged a little helplessly. "I forgave her, before she died, but I'm still angry at her. It wasn't enough to cast me out, she had to try and steal my life as well? And for what? Some mystical version of Snakes and Ladders, from what I could make out."
"You can forgive someone and still be angry at them," Marie replied softly. "But Ah bet that years down the road, you'll be glad you did...the anger will fade with time, but the chance to forgive, well, that was limited. Your mom...she made mistakes, but Ah think she did care about you. She just didn't know how to act all the time."
They reached the small cafe the Snow Valley people used on a regular basis for lunch, on account of it being less busy than most of the others, and the booths in the back being relatively private. "There wasn't an autopsy 'cause of religious reasons - Romani don't like defiling the dead - but from what everyone says, I think she was sick. Like... her mind was going. When I was stuck in her body, it was like there was this blanket between me and the world. I couldn't think, couldn't focus... Half the time I didn't know where or when I was." Amanda sighed. "I don't know if I'm telling myself that to make myself feel better about things, tho'."
"Dementia maybe," Marie said. "But that musta been scary, being in someone else's body and having that lack of control. And then coming back to a body that, uh, looks a little worse for the wear."
In mid-wince as she took her seat, Amanda snorted a laugh instead. "This? 'S not much more than a heavy training session with Wanda, but by all accounts Margali couldn't fight worth shite. Lots of flashy powers, not so much of the ducking. The magic's gunna be out for a few more days, I think - she pushed things pretty hard, and I've got enough brain damage without adding to it." She made a face and picked up the menu. "It'll heal. How about you? What's been going on in the world of Ms. D'Ancato?"
"Yeah, Ducking 101 should be a required fighting class. People'd be surprised how often ducking helps," Marie said, making a mental note to adjust some of the DR training exercises. "As for my world...uh. Well, boring comparatively. You already know Ah saw Irene again...other than that, just been getting ready for classes and spending time with Gar. Ah've become boring."
"That's what you get, dating a cop," Amanda teased, not at all serious. "Maybe Ange and I should take you two old fogeys out, get you out and about again." She sobered a little, however, and asked: "So, how'd things go with the crazy old pre-cog this time?
"Well, she didn't tell me Ah had to make a decision to affect the rest of the world...and Ah can't really talk about some of the rest of it. Short story? Ah've got another diary. It's just as convoluted as the last...so Ah don't really understand their purpose when they never seem to help. They only mean anything after the fact," Marie said, setting her menu down a little harder than she needed to.
"And she hasn't let you know why she's giving them to you either?" Amanda asked, a touch sympathetically. "I'd suggest seeing what Tante thought of 'em, but she's not much better with the convoluted. Must be a pre-cog thing, tho' Angie's pretty free of it most days. Except when she hasn't had her coffee, any way."
"It's about choices Marie," the Southern girl said, doing her best to take on Irene's carefully cultured and measured voice, making a face when she finished. "That's all Ah ever get. Choices. And yeah, Ah think Marie-Ange mentioned something about showing the diaries to Tante. Can't hurt, right?"
"You've never met Tante." There was respect under Amanda's words, however. "I could always give her a call, maybe even get Remy to give her a copy of some of these things. He's been down there a lot on Guild business lately. Which was just as well for my little sister - if Remy and Pete had been in the place when she was caught pretending to be me, she would have gotten a lot worse than a slapping."
"Can't be easy, to be her though," Marie said. "Not that it excuses what she did, but she hasn't had an easy life either. And from what Ah know of Margali...well, Ah won't speak disrespectfully of the deceased, but she never seemed to go out of her way to make life easier on anyone."
"That much is true. Leading the clan, being responsible for everyone all by herself... it made her hard. And lonely too, I think." Amanda sighed, and then shook her head. "Any way. I'll be fine - just processing things." She gave Marie a wry smile. "Just another episode in the mutant soap opera, yeah?"
"At least that should fill the quota for the month," Marie said, returning an equally wry smile.
