Amara and Yvette

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Amara goes for a walk despite the cold, and runs into Yvette. They chat briefly, and come up with a plan to organise something fun for the mansion residents to do.

Amara Aquilla certainly wasn't about to admit this to her friends at college, but the events of late October still kept her up late at night. Clean-up in New York still continued, but Amara had elected to return to the mansion and spend some time in the place she'd called home for the past few years. She knew there was still a lot to be done, but she just needed a break.

Despite the cold, she'd headed outside for a walk in the woods, a woolen trench coat wrapped around her to keep her body heat in. While Amara never really did feel cold herself, she'd experienced enough New York winters to not enjoy the feeling of the cold wind cutting through her, or snow melting on her cheeks. But she did enjoy the fresh air, which is something that was in short supply at college. She quickly discovered she wasn't alone on this walk either, spotting a familiar little red figure as she rounded a tree. "Hi Yvette!" She called out, a smile on her face.

"Hello!" Yvette called back from her perch in the branches. She'd seen Amara around before - 'one of the older students' was how she was identified in her mind - but hadn't really spoken to her much. "Amara, yes? How are you today?" Unlike the other girl, Yvette was wearing just her body suit, her long hands and feet bare.

"Yes!" Amara tilted her head back so she could look up to the other girl, still smiling. Amara didn't talk to nearly enough of the people around the school these days, particularly the younger ones. "I can't complain, really. I have a break from classes at the moment and it's not snowing yet. Which is always nice! How are you?"

"I am well, thank you." Yvette's eyes flashed bright blue for a moment. "I am being working - Kyle gave me the map to be cutting down the dead branches so they do not fall on the people."

"I heard you were working out here now," she said with a grin. "And let me be the first to appreciate the work you're doing. Dead branches are great for starting a bonfire with, but they're not so great when they land on your head." Amara had learnt that the hard way, many years ago. "Do you need any help with collecting the branches?"

"Oh, that would be very good, yes. I have to be making them into the very small pieces when I am carrying them." Yvette looked rueful. "I am not so big and strong like Mr. Marko."

"I don't think any of us are," Amara said with a laugh. "But we can certainly do what we can. And the grounds are looking pretty good, so you and Kyle must be doing a great job."

"We are trying, so I am glad there is the difference." Yvette scrambled a bit higher up, using her toes to grip. When she reached her target, a rotten limb that had already begun to slit, she peered down at Amara. "Please to be moving back? I would not like to be getting the sawdust in your eyes."

"You're doing very well." Amara smiled, then took a few steps back at Yvette's request, taking note of the limb Yvette was aiming for and adjusting her position accordingly. "Maybe if we have enough wood when you're finished, we could have a bonfire one night soon. It's been far too long since I've indulged my s'more addiction."

"Ooh, I like the s'mores! Except when Angel gets the marshamallows in my hair." Yvette started hacking industriously away at the branch, wood chips scattering beneath her sharp hands. "You have the fire powers, yes? Like John and Angel?"

"... marshmellow in your hair can not be good." Not something Amara had experienced - chewing gum, yes, on more than one occasion, but not marshmellow. She raised her hand up to her head, shielding her eyes from any wood chips that might fly her way. "And yes, pretty much. Though mine are more... lava and earthquakes than just fire, but I can still set things alit if I want."

"So, you are Julio and Angel together!" Yvette laughed. "Julio makes the earthquakes and Angel makes the fire and you can make both!" The branch creaked and she scooted back a bit. "What is it to be saying? Timber?"

"That's exactly it! I'm a bit of a mix-up." She grinned, taking a couple of steps back. While she was fairly sure she was already far enough away not to get hit by a falling branch, a couple of extra certainly couldn't help. The branch crashed down harmlessly a few feet away from her, and Amara laughed. "Nicely aimed, Yvette. I didn't even get any stray chips hitting me."

"I am getting the lots of practice." The small red girl scrambled back down the tree, not unlike a monkey, jumping the final couple of feet to land in a crouch in a pile of leaves and mulch. "I think the bonfire is the very good idea. After the bad man in New York, people are needing the happy things, yes?"

"Exactly," Amara agreed, moving forward to collect up the branch Yvette had just felled. It was heavier than she expected, and she had to adjust her grip a couple of times before picking it up. "We should talk to the Professor, see what he says. It'd give people a chance to just hang out and have some fun."

Yvette came over and grabbed the other end of the branch to help Amara. "Fun is definitely the thing we are needing, yes."