xp_logs | Log - Angelo and Amanda

Everything was so nice and shiny, Amanda thought to herself as she wandered down the halls. She'd started out with the intention of playing in the snow, but then she'd remembered she had told Ange she'd visit him. Ange was All Right, in her books. So she changed direction and headed down to the medlab.

Angelo was still trying to wade through his books, and wasn't finding it easy. He'd read the same page six times now, and not taken in a word of it. When he heard the knock on the door, he laid the book aside with a sigh of relief. Any interruption would be welcome right then...

"Angie!" Amanda bounded into the room and pounced on him. "Knight in shinin' armour t' girls in distress!"

Angelo barely had enough time to brace himself before she landed on him. He held her out at arm's length and blinked at her. "You don't seem much in distress, exactly..."

"Figure o' speech, that's what they call it, isn't it?" Amanda finished giving him her enthusastic hug and sat back on the foot of the bed. "An' I'm in too good a mood to be cranky today."

"Yeah, I got that idea", Angelo said slowly, still giving her an odd look. "Any particular reason?"

A sly grin crossed her face. "That would be tellin', wouldn't it?" she replied, laying a finger across her lips. "'S a secret."

Angelo laughed. "Fine, keep your secrets", he teased. "So, what brings you down here today, then?"

"Everyone's grumpy up there. I figured you'd be better t' talk to." Unable to sit still for more than a minute, Amanda climbed off the bed and started pacing aimlessly. "I can fix you more, if you like."

"I'm not gonna say no", he told her, eyeing her in concern at her restlessness. "You okay over there?"

"Fine. Just got twitchy feet. We're goin' clubbing tonight an' I can't wait. Been cooped up forever." She pouted. "Wish you could come too."

"Maybe next time", he suggested. "You just let me know when you're goin', an' if I can, I'm there."

She nodded. "Next time you'll be all fixed, she said, gesturing expansively. Coloured sparks flew from her fingers. "Ooh, pretty!"

"Next time?" Angelo asked, eyes lighting up. "You mean, next healing session? Or next time you go clubbing?"

"Both, silly." She stopped trying to catch the sparks and flopped back down on the bed. "Got lots of power, you see. I found me a source."

Angelo looked down the bed at her, amused. "Did you, now? What source?"

"Biiiig source. Verybig. Lots of mystic energy, all walkin' around an' bein' grumpy."

Angelo blinked, almost sure he knew who she was talking about, but not understanding any more for all that. "Mr Marko is a source of mystic energy?"

"Shh. No names. Names is power an' that's somethin' I don't want t' get on th' wrong side of." She scooted up and lay her finger over his lips. "'Sides, Pete'll spoil the fun."

Angelo eyed her warily. "Okay. No names. But... him? Really?"

"Not tellin'." Amanda's mood shifted and she gave him a wide-eyed, serious look. "Yer won't say nothin'? I just got a bit too close, is all - everyone's so grumpy an' I wanted to feel good so I went for a walk only I think I was there I bit too long."

"Were you out in the snow again?" Angelo asked her, glancing at her less than warm clothes. "Dressed like that?"

"Nonono," Amanda corrected him. "Last night. I waited til Paige went t' bed an' snuck out." She giggled. "Yep, definitely think I got too much - m' head's still spinnin'."

"I couldn't tell", Angelo deadpanned. "Well, if you wanna burn some of it off, I'm not gonna turn you down."

A wicked smile crossed Amanda's face and she scooted even closer. "Yer sure about that?" she asked suggestively.

"Healing!" Angelo reminded her. "You know the situation, Amanda. Don't make me tip you off the bed."

She pouted at him, but moved back a bit. "All the nice ones is taken," she complained, but with a grin.

Angelo grinned back. "Like you've been sufferin' a shortage of available guys", he teased, in no way maliciously.

"True," she agreed. "'M a tramp," she added cheerfully, no trace of anger or hurt in her voice or face.

Angelo frowned fleetingly, then hid it since she didn't seem remotely bothered by the term. "If you say so."

She shrugged. "'S true. You do stuff when you're desp'rate." Clarity returned for a moment and she gave him a searching look. "You've been there. You've seen it."

Angelo looked back at her, eyes dark. "I've more than seen it", he confessed, head down. "And right now, I'm hopin' I didn't completely misunderstand what you just said."

Pink fuzz was threatening to invade Amanda's head again, but she shoved it away. This was important. "I used to ask for a tenner," she said quietly. "You?"

"Whatever I could get, and hope it didn't come with a beatin'", Angelo answered. "Homeless, underage, obvious mutant... you don't get the best clients."

"Guess I was lucky," she replied wryly. "Quickies up 'gainst the wall, so I didn't have to take me kit off, blow jobs in public toilets, that kind of thing." She rubbed her hands over her face. "Gah. Head's all over the place. I'm gunna have to offload some of this or explode, but I gotta warn you, it might hurt. If you can't deal, I'll find somethin' else t' do."

"Do it", Angelo told her. "Don't care if it hurts, long as it's healin' me at the same time."

"Oh, it'll heal. Problem is there's so much power, it goes too fast. Ask Manny." She curled her legs up under her and held her hands out, palms down. "You ready?"

Angelo braced himself, and nodded. "Do it."

Amanda closed her eyes and concentrated. As in earlier sessions, her hands started to glow, but brighter than Angelo had seen before. Warm golden light poured from her hands onto his legs, spreading over him far faster than before. At first there was the usual warm glowing feeling, and then the pain - cells regenerating at a rate much faster than intended. Amanda's face was screwed up in concentration, trying to rein in the amount of power the spell was using.

Angelo clenched his teeth hard, forcing back a scream. Wouldn't want to alert the doctor to what was going on, after all. His hands clenched on the sides of the mattress as he weathered the pain.

Without the feedback loop that she'd had with Manuel the last time she'd Healed in this state, Amanda couldn't feel Angelo's pain, but she could see it. Bleeding off as much power as she dared, she jerked her hands away, closing them into fists to halt thespell. Panting, she opened her eyes and asked: "You all right?"

Angelo relaxed as the pain abated. Gasping from the after-effects, he managed, "Am now. Yeah."

"I'm sorry. Didn't want t' hurt you." She reached over and took his hand, turning it over to show the healing burns on the back - new skin was growing, tight and shiny.

"You warned me", he reminded her. "All for a good cause."

"I know, just..." she rubbed her temples. "I'm still gettin' used t' all this."

Angelo glanced over at her, concerned. "You okay?"

"'M fine. I'm still workin' out me limits with how much I can channel - too much tends t' frazzle me nerves. And indeed, whilst she was more coherent, she was still twitching, fingers drumming on her legs, foot waggling nervously.

Angelo nodded silently, understanding. "You got the worst of the overload burned off now?"

"Th' bit that makes me want t' cover everythin' in glitter, yeah," she said wryly. She shifted restlessly. "Think I'll go for a walk or somethin'. Can't sit still." She gave him a serious look. "An' no matter how bad I get, I don't tell tales. Okay?"

Angelo nodded. "Okay. Appreciated."

She gave his hands a squeeze. "I'll be back later. I'll have a talk t' the doc, see if he won't agree with me that one more session'll do it."

Angelo smiled, squeezing her hands quickly in return. "Cool. See you later, then!"