log: amara and north

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

On a day trip into the New York Library, Amara happens to meet one of the Snow Valley folk. Discussions about the existence of Nova Roma and David's age ensue.

Now that the intensive finals studying period was in the safely distant past, Amara found her enjoyment of spending time in the library had been renewed. So she'd woken up early that morning to head into Manhatten, planning on spending as much time as she could in one of the public libraries. The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to be precise, and while she'd started out just wandering until she found something of interest, she'd come across a mention of Nova Roma in one of the books she'd collected, and was now trawelling through the collection to see what else she could find. It was well and good for her to know the history of the place as only a native could, but she was curious about what the outside world had to say about it. She was carefully trying to navigate her way past a group of older women not paying attention to where they were going with an arm full of books when she stumbled briefly. She didn't quite fall over, but the associated noise from her heavy footfall and sudden gasp was certainly enough to draw more attention to her than she might have liked.

A pair of hands shot out from between two shelves, catching her books deftly. Peering over a pair of reading glasses, David North looked out at Amara as he handed the stack back to the blonde girl. "Careful, miss," he said quietly, but smiling as he mock-chided her. "Treacherous terrain in the stacks. You may need a guide and... wait a moment. Bear with me, for this will most likely sound horribly inappropriate, but - do I know you from somewhere? You seem familiar..."

He snapped his fingers in recognition. "The Xavier Institute, yes. From the journals, of course. You would be..." David paused as he tried to recall the name.

"Thank you," Amara replied gratefully, a smile crossing her face. She got herself straightened up, taking back the books before finally looking up at him. A moment of confusion crossed her face when he mentioned recognising her - was he a professor she'd just flat out forgotten, but then he mentioned the journals, and she brightened right up again.

"Yes! That would be it. I'm Amara Aquilla." There's a pause, followed by a slight reddening of her cheeks. "I'm truly sorry, but I'm afraid I can't remember your name either." She did try to keep track of everyone, but she certainly was not at all good at keeping up with the journals.

North coughed self-consciously and offered his hand. "David North. I work at the Snow Valley Research Center, but I've been by the school once or twice. Logan and I are... prior colleagues, you could say. Well, there. That wasn't the most awkward of introductions, comparatively. So, Miss Aquilla, what brings you into Manhattan researching..." he peeked at the stack of her books and furrowed his brow. "...apocryphal Roman civilizations? The mythical Nova Roma, even?"

Amara shifted the pile of books so she could return the handshake, the smile returnning to her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister North. I don't get a chance to meet many of the people who work at Snow Valley." She went slightly pink again at the mention of Nova Roma being mythical, taking a brief moment to feel awkward. "Oh, I just wanted a day in the library. But then... I'm from Nova Roma, and so when I saw it mentioned, I was... well, curious."

That got a definite show of interest from North. "You are... unglaublich, I was under the impression that the settlement was
only a hypothetical idea, something that anthropologists bring up to play pranks on their peers at conventions. I should bring that up with Wanda... Maximoff, that is. Sometimes there are perks to living downstairs from a rather eccentric Anthropology professor."

Nodding towards a nearby table, David set down the book he'd been searching for - Strohm's Compendium of Bavarian Timepieces 1886-1936 - and pulled out a chair for Amara before sitting down and folding his glasses into a pocket. "You lived there your whole life, I take it? What brings you to New York?"

"Oh no, it's certainly real." She smiled rather shyly. "It is quite isolated, though my father has started to make more contact world since..." She trailed off for a moment, frowning slightly. "Well, since I left." Explaining the exact circumstances of the change was not something she wanted to go into in such a public space.

"Until about two and a half years ago, yes. I came to New York to learn how to control my powers. And I've since stayed on to go to college, I just completed my first year at ESU."

North smiled. "Ah, wunderbar, wonderful. Something I have had a bit of envy for, I must admit. Xavier's, that is. The opportunity to explore our gifts among peers, openly. When I was your age - ah, listen to me, I sound like an old man." He chuckled at the admission. "That is, when my powers manifested, I did not have many roads open to me. Mutants were not well-understood, curiosities to better serve the good of the state, or to be studied. Different times, indeed."

"Yes it is, it's been wonderful. I can't imagine how things might have turned out otherwise. I was quite fortunate to be offered the experience to study at Xavier's." Amara didn't even want to think about what could have happened otherwise. "You don't sound old at all, just experienced. I imagine you've seen quite a bit in your time."

That got a small chuckle from David as he absently stroked his beard. "I just turned forty-four," he confessed, "which is practically a senior citizen in my... former line of work. Admittedly, there has been quite a bit to see," aside from the eleven years under deep psychic cover believing you were a boring office drone, he reminded himself.

"Forty four is not old at all," she said with a laugh. "It is barely middle aged, is it not? But then it does depend on what your former line of work was." She moved slightly so she could lean against the table they were hovering here, shifting the pile of books again.

David was quiet for a moment, staring out into space, then he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Almost everyone I used to work alongside is dead, madchen. I suppose saying 'government work' in a hushed tone would possibly give the closest I should say. Suffice to say that I worked alongside Logan when he was... different."

Stop referring to it in the past tense, Mav, he could almost hear Carol's voice in the back of his head, like a nagging conscience. You might have changed your motive, but not your methods.

"Barely middle-aged, though?" he said, forcing a modicum of humor into his tone. "I suppose one takes such evaluations as they come. I prefer to think that I wear the years well. I understand that I actually have a year or so on your Nathan Dayspring, and he seems to have gone grey quite more aggressively, don't you think? As they say, it's not the years, it's the mileage."

"-- oh." Amara just looked awkward at that, glancing down uncomfortably. "I am sorry, I did not mean to bring that up." Amara did not like to bring up things that may be painful for someone else, and she regretted that she might have for David.

"Well, people live to beyond one hundred these days, do they not?" Amara followed his lead, forcing a note of levity into her voice. "You have several decades to go, if that is the case."

North looked momentarily appalled. "Several decades? Mein Gott, As if I do not have enough creaks and pains already? Ah, I suppose I will be happy with whatever time is allotted for me. Come now, this is morbid talk for a summer's afternoon. If a 'barely middle-aged' man can be allowed, perhaps I can buy you a coffee, and you can tell me about matters at the Xavier Institute, yes?" He smiled, then leaned forward conspiratorially. "I have a suspicious feeling that some of our experience with, shall we say, the uniformed extracurricular activities that Xavier's provides might be interestingly similar."

Amara laughed a moment at that. "I'm sure it won't be too dreadful. But coffee would be wonderful, thank you." Her voice dropped as well as she continued softly. "I'm sure they might. Let me just take a note of these titles and place them on the returns shelf, and then we can leave?" She had no pressing desire to read through the books now, but she definitely was interested in reading them at some point.

"Certainly," David agreed, standing up and walking alongside Amara towards the returns desk. "So," he added conversationally, "tell me about Logan..."