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xp_logsLater, two of the Szardos sisters bunk down for the night. Gifts are given and apologies made, and a rumour is confirmed.
"I think I'm gunna explode," Amanda complained as she set the lamp down on the small cabinet between the two beds set along either wall of the caravan. "Mirela sure doesn't take 'I'm stuffed and gunna chuck' for an answer, does she?"
Meggan grinned at that, as she moved her own lamp. “Doesn’t seem like it. Feels like I’ll never be hungry again!” As though to prove that she had probably eaten just a little bit too fast at some point, Meggan hiccupped. After a pause to see whether or not more would come from her, the younger girl added, “If this keeps up, I’m not standing on my head to fix it. Not after that meal.”
"I could scare you?" Amanda suggested with a grin. "I'm sure I could think of something. Like the image of Farouk in his underwear, maybe?" After spending so long travelling with the man, Amanda had no issues subjecting other people to the horrors she'd seen.
Meggan’s eyes widened at that thought. “That…could actually be one of the top ten scariest things I’ve ever heard.” Despite the horror, she still hiccupped two more times. “And still, it didn’t work.” She paused, before hurriedly (before another hiccup struck) adding, “Maybe I should hold my breath, and get scared at the same time?” And wasn’t there a remedy out there that involved sugar? She was too stuffed to try it, but it could be useful for the future.
After hiccupping three more times, she continued with a raised eyebrow, “Happen to know anything scarier than Farouk’s underpants?”
"Crazy Nazi guy made out of bees?" Amanda suggested. "Giant meat computers with tentacles?" As she spoke, she was getting back up off the bed and fetching a glass of water from the tiny sink at the other end of the caravan. "Or, you could try this. Drink it slow," she instructed, coming back and holding out the glass to Meggan.
Meggan wrinkled her nose at the second one. “Yeah, that’s definitely worse.” There were many subtle layers of horror, between the Farouk underpants image, and the meat computer...but the tentacles had to give it the lead. She took the water with a grateful nod, and a “thanks.” If five minutes passed and she hadn’t hiccupped again, then there was a good chance they were gone.
"My life is infinitely weird," Amanda told her, wrinkling her nose a little. "Which reminds me... got something for your birthday. I was going to post it after this meeting of Wanda's, but now I don't need to." She hooked her duffle bag out from under the bed and began rummaging through it. "And hey, I'm almost on time, still."
Meggan gave a wry smile as she took another sip before leaving the glass on the table. “I really think weird is our normal.” Two minutes and no hiccups—maybe the water was working. Raising an eyebrow in badly contained curiosity, Meggan waited for the present. “Well, it’s always better to get a present late than not at all.”
While Meggan had been speaking, Amanda had been rummaging through the bag, pushing clothes aside to try and find the gift. At last with a "hah!" of triumph, she unearthed the small tissue-wrapped parcel. "Here you go," she said, holding it out. "Happy birthday."
Taking the parcel, Meggan carefully removed the tissue paper before getting to the jewelry box. She carefully poured out its contents into the palm of her hand. “A bracelet with a little monkey attached to it—it’s so cute. Thank you, Amanda.” She leaned over and hugged the other girl with the arm that wasn’t holding the gift.
"Well, you're not really my monkey girl any more, but I thought you'd like it." Amanda hugged Meggan back, pleased at the reaction. With Meggan, she was never entirely sure where she stood, given their past history. "I wanted to say sorry, tho', for not being around more. I promised I'd help you settle in and I didn't." Another broken promise to add to the rest.
“I understand, though—things got really hectic for a while there. We were both busy, and I’m not mad at you.” And was that an understatement or what? Between getting herself settled in, then Day Zero and the holidays, who had really had time for anything? With all the extenuating circumstances involved, she knew she couldn’t hold a grudge against her sister.
Amanda chuckled a little and leaned back, smoothing Meggan's hair away from her face. "You'd forgive me just about anything, wouldn't you?" she teased a little. "You and Pe..." She stopped herself.
Meggan laughed, and then cocked her head to the side as she tried to come up with the most outrageous possibility. “Just about—although, I might draw the line if you somehow blew up the planet.” She sensed the shift in Amanda’s mood, and waited for a moment before encouraging her on. “Me and…” She thought she knew how that sentence ended, but she’d been wrong before.
"Pete," Amanda replied softly. "I just... I can't believe he's gone. And no-one will ever know half of what he did for them, 'cause of the whole top secret thing. It doesn't seem right."
“I know.” Meggan whispered, equally as softly, as she rubbed Amanda’s shoulder in sympathy. After a slight pause, Meggan realized she hadn't told Amanda something about him years ago. “I never did tell you that he was really my mysterious Rescue Man, did I? He was. So I owed him one for that.”
A small, sad smile crossed Amanda's face. "Figures. He never said, even tho' I wondered sometimes... I used to send him pictures of you, you know? Back when he'd left the mansion. I wanted him to see the new member of the family." Her voice caught a little on the last word and she clenched her jaw a little.
Meggan left her arm around Amanda’s shoulder, hoping to provide at least a smidgen of comfort. “Didn’t know you’d done that. Thanks for thinking of it, though.” She let out her own tiny little sniffle, but managed to keep her voice steady. Mostly. A quiver or two may have snuck in towards the end, to her slight annoyance.
The witch rested her head against Meggan's, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she took a breath and straightened, giving Meggan a squeeze. "Well, he wouldn't want us moping about him on your birthday and all. And it's late. We should turn in before Mirela comes and tells us lights out, yeah?"
She gave her sister one last squeeze before nodding. “Yeah. She’d probably wonder what was wrong.” So she wouldn’t lose her new monkey bracelet, she carefully put it back in the jewelry box, and sat that on the nearby table. She pointed at Amanda with a playful (yet strangely serious at the same time) expression. “You’re probably even more tired than me, so get yourself some sleep.”
"Bossy boots," Amanda replied, grinning a little more this time. "You're not too big that I can't turn you over my knee, you know." Then she looked Meggan up and down. "Well, maybe you are."
She gave her sister a phony look of terror before chuckling. “Good—I’m too full and sleepy for a mad dash out the door.” She guessed she might be able to outrun Amanda if she wasn’t sleepy.
"I think I'm gunna explode," Amanda complained as she set the lamp down on the small cabinet between the two beds set along either wall of the caravan. "Mirela sure doesn't take 'I'm stuffed and gunna chuck' for an answer, does she?"
Meggan grinned at that, as she moved her own lamp. “Doesn’t seem like it. Feels like I’ll never be hungry again!” As though to prove that she had probably eaten just a little bit too fast at some point, Meggan hiccupped. After a pause to see whether or not more would come from her, the younger girl added, “If this keeps up, I’m not standing on my head to fix it. Not after that meal.”
"I could scare you?" Amanda suggested with a grin. "I'm sure I could think of something. Like the image of Farouk in his underwear, maybe?" After spending so long travelling with the man, Amanda had no issues subjecting other people to the horrors she'd seen.
Meggan’s eyes widened at that thought. “That…could actually be one of the top ten scariest things I’ve ever heard.” Despite the horror, she still hiccupped two more times. “And still, it didn’t work.” She paused, before hurriedly (before another hiccup struck) adding, “Maybe I should hold my breath, and get scared at the same time?” And wasn’t there a remedy out there that involved sugar? She was too stuffed to try it, but it could be useful for the future.
After hiccupping three more times, she continued with a raised eyebrow, “Happen to know anything scarier than Farouk’s underpants?”
"Crazy Nazi guy made out of bees?" Amanda suggested. "Giant meat computers with tentacles?" As she spoke, she was getting back up off the bed and fetching a glass of water from the tiny sink at the other end of the caravan. "Or, you could try this. Drink it slow," she instructed, coming back and holding out the glass to Meggan.
Meggan wrinkled her nose at the second one. “Yeah, that’s definitely worse.” There were many subtle layers of horror, between the Farouk underpants image, and the meat computer...but the tentacles had to give it the lead. She took the water with a grateful nod, and a “thanks.” If five minutes passed and she hadn’t hiccupped again, then there was a good chance they were gone.
"My life is infinitely weird," Amanda told her, wrinkling her nose a little. "Which reminds me... got something for your birthday. I was going to post it after this meeting of Wanda's, but now I don't need to." She hooked her duffle bag out from under the bed and began rummaging through it. "And hey, I'm almost on time, still."
Meggan gave a wry smile as she took another sip before leaving the glass on the table. “I really think weird is our normal.” Two minutes and no hiccups—maybe the water was working. Raising an eyebrow in badly contained curiosity, Meggan waited for the present. “Well, it’s always better to get a present late than not at all.”
While Meggan had been speaking, Amanda had been rummaging through the bag, pushing clothes aside to try and find the gift. At last with a "hah!" of triumph, she unearthed the small tissue-wrapped parcel. "Here you go," she said, holding it out. "Happy birthday."
Taking the parcel, Meggan carefully removed the tissue paper before getting to the jewelry box. She carefully poured out its contents into the palm of her hand. “A bracelet with a little monkey attached to it—it’s so cute. Thank you, Amanda.” She leaned over and hugged the other girl with the arm that wasn’t holding the gift.
"Well, you're not really my monkey girl any more, but I thought you'd like it." Amanda hugged Meggan back, pleased at the reaction. With Meggan, she was never entirely sure where she stood, given their past history. "I wanted to say sorry, tho', for not being around more. I promised I'd help you settle in and I didn't." Another broken promise to add to the rest.
“I understand, though—things got really hectic for a while there. We were both busy, and I’m not mad at you.” And was that an understatement or what? Between getting herself settled in, then Day Zero and the holidays, who had really had time for anything? With all the extenuating circumstances involved, she knew she couldn’t hold a grudge against her sister.
Amanda chuckled a little and leaned back, smoothing Meggan's hair away from her face. "You'd forgive me just about anything, wouldn't you?" she teased a little. "You and Pe..." She stopped herself.
Meggan laughed, and then cocked her head to the side as she tried to come up with the most outrageous possibility. “Just about—although, I might draw the line if you somehow blew up the planet.” She sensed the shift in Amanda’s mood, and waited for a moment before encouraging her on. “Me and…” She thought she knew how that sentence ended, but she’d been wrong before.
"Pete," Amanda replied softly. "I just... I can't believe he's gone. And no-one will ever know half of what he did for them, 'cause of the whole top secret thing. It doesn't seem right."
“I know.” Meggan whispered, equally as softly, as she rubbed Amanda’s shoulder in sympathy. After a slight pause, Meggan realized she hadn't told Amanda something about him years ago. “I never did tell you that he was really my mysterious Rescue Man, did I? He was. So I owed him one for that.”
A small, sad smile crossed Amanda's face. "Figures. He never said, even tho' I wondered sometimes... I used to send him pictures of you, you know? Back when he'd left the mansion. I wanted him to see the new member of the family." Her voice caught a little on the last word and she clenched her jaw a little.
Meggan left her arm around Amanda’s shoulder, hoping to provide at least a smidgen of comfort. “Didn’t know you’d done that. Thanks for thinking of it, though.” She let out her own tiny little sniffle, but managed to keep her voice steady. Mostly. A quiver or two may have snuck in towards the end, to her slight annoyance.
The witch rested her head against Meggan's, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she took a breath and straightened, giving Meggan a squeeze. "Well, he wouldn't want us moping about him on your birthday and all. And it's late. We should turn in before Mirela comes and tells us lights out, yeah?"
She gave her sister one last squeeze before nodding. “Yeah. She’d probably wonder what was wrong.” So she wouldn’t lose her new monkey bracelet, she carefully put it back in the jewelry box, and sat that on the nearby table. She pointed at Amanda with a playful (yet strangely serious at the same time) expression. “You’re probably even more tired than me, so get yourself some sleep.”
"Bossy boots," Amanda replied, grinning a little more this time. "You're not too big that I can't turn you over my knee, you know." Then she looked Meggan up and down. "Well, maybe you are."
She gave her sister a phony look of terror before chuckling. “Good—I’m too full and sleepy for a mad dash out the door.” She guessed she might be able to outrun Amanda if she wasn’t sleepy.
