Remy and Amanda: Friday afternoon
Feb. 20th, 2004 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda gets a pep talk of the other kind. The kind that makes you want to thump the one giving it.
Don't let the bastards get you down...
Friday was cold and dull, as had been most of February. Amanda shrugged further into her coat, ignoring the chill on her face as she wandered aimlessly through the slushy snow. Samson had told her to stop hiding, and she would, but... not quite yet. The animosity in the house towards her was almost palpable.
Remy lit a cigarette and leaned out on the patio railing. It was an hour before 'Passions' was on, and the madness of hostility that was the house was getting to him. Anger Remy had no problem with, but self-righteousness from a bunch of flat-out hypocrites and idiots got on his nerves quickly. Even the icy wind was better than listening to them.
Amanda caught the tang of cigarette smoke as she rounded the corner, and froze for a moment. Then she shook herself and headed for the steps. The smokers of the mansion were generally the people she considered 'hers', and at the very least they wouldn't make her life overly difficult. Her relief deepened as she saw it was Remy.
"Got a light?" she asked, already pulling her own pack out of her coat pocket.
Remy held up a finger and grinned. "Always chere. Remy good like that." He smirked, and touched the tip of her cigarette with his finger, the kinetic charge flashing the smoke into flash.
She smiled briefly and pulled the smoke deeply into her lungs, wincing a little at the burn - she'd been smoking pretty much constantly since Monday and was already almost through one of the cartons Shinobi had given her. "Good trick t' have," she said, exhaling with a short cough. "When yer able t' use it."
"Not often dat Remy's not. My own best lighter." He said, taking a long drag and looking out on the snowy grounds. "Damn grey day, though. Makes de mansion look cheery compared t' dis."
"Yeah. Tho' the angst level in there almost makes it look like spring out here." Amanda shivered, from more than the cold - the buzz she'd gotten from the crystal was wearing off faster than she'd thought it would, and the first pangs were returning.
"Not surprising though. Dat many students and teachers, half repressed and righteous, de other half ain't got a moral between dem. Remy was expecting open warfare by de end of de week." Remy snorted, smoke curling from the corner of his mouth.
"Glad t' be of help then," said Amanda with the barest hint of wry amusement. Eventually this whole thing would be funny – maybe - but right now she had to deal with traumatised people every time she turned around, it seemed, and the pressure on her little-used conscience was beginning to tell. She took another long drag on her cigarette - she was already half-way through it - and exhaled smoke through her nose in two streams.
"Figured dis might be your work, chere. Hardly de swiftest move." Remy said, not unkindly, but obviously not too sympathetically either. "Still, dere was entertainment. Heard dat Marie girl got caught. Break up dat more righteous den thou attitude."
"Yeah, fucking brilliant idea, weren't it? If it'd been someone else I would have thought they were a right turnip." Amanda flicked ash over the railing, and, noticing the fag was almost burnt down to the filter, groped in her pocket for the pack. The action let her hide her wince at the mention of Marie. "Great way t' fuck up what I had goin' for me here."
"True. But den dat’s not necessarily true. Fact is dat if you can join de other side and still come back, dey not about t' send you packing." Remy looked out over the ground contemplatively. "Sides, what's de worst dat can happen?"
"You know - you've been there. An' I dunno know 'bout you, but I'm buggered if I'm gunna end up on a street corner when I'm thirty, tryin' t' make a livin' as the tom with the hacked-up skin." Amanda let her new cigarette from the remains of the previous one. "We both know there ain't no future in that."
"Non, but dis ain't de only future either, chere." Remy shook out another cigarette. "Look, all Remy is saying is dat dere is no reason t' be scared 'bout t'ings. You fucked up, pretty well, as I see. Pissed off de masters here. But dey not in charge of your life, chere. Dey tell you t' jump in a direction you don't wan' t' go, you tell dem t' fuck dem selves. Remy been a whore before, and not looking t' do it again, no matter how nice de mansion be."
Amanda shrugged. "I won't be one of their X-Men, if that's what yer gettin' at. That whole hero lark? Yeah, right." Her lip curled. "But it's hard t' see what other choices I have - stay here, go t' school, behave meself enough not t' get tossed out, or, what? You got any ideas on what a sixteen year old street kid with no education, a fucking incomprehensible mutation an' a magic habit can do out there?"
"Remy got a few ideas." Lebeau scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Look, wit' what you can do, de streets are not de place you going t' be unless you decide dey are. As for dis place, dat going t' have t' be your decision. You fucked up, true. Pretty bad, actually. But dat don give dem power over you if you don like de terms. Dey want you t' be dere excuse, leave."
She was quiet for a long moment, thinking his words over. Part of her was terrified at the thought of leaving what was rapidly becoming a sanctuary, but Remy had touched a nerve. Her entire life she'd been taking direction from others. Even at her most rebellious, she had simply done what the other rebels of her groups were doing. Rack's training had left a weakness in her psyche, one she was just becoming aware of. She scowled at Remy - fucker was always right about this stuff, even when she didn't want him to be.
"If I stay, it's because I want t'," she said at last. "This potion thing... it showed me what I'm turnin' into. Someone who treats other people like toys just because she can. Like... Manny." She tightened her lips. "I don't want t' be like that."
"Long as you sure about dat, chere. When Remy leaves, it not t' go back on de streets, dat for sure. Dis place might change you for de good, or twist you up so you don' know who you are. Who knows? But it not de only place, and long as you keep dat in mind, maybe you make out alright."
"I will. Keep that in mind." She watched the smoke from both their cigarettes spiralling out into the cold air. "Yer a smug bastard, Le Beau, but yer all right."
"Don’ tell anyone. Ruin my reputation, chere."
Don't let the bastards get you down...
Friday was cold and dull, as had been most of February. Amanda shrugged further into her coat, ignoring the chill on her face as she wandered aimlessly through the slushy snow. Samson had told her to stop hiding, and she would, but... not quite yet. The animosity in the house towards her was almost palpable.
Remy lit a cigarette and leaned out on the patio railing. It was an hour before 'Passions' was on, and the madness of hostility that was the house was getting to him. Anger Remy had no problem with, but self-righteousness from a bunch of flat-out hypocrites and idiots got on his nerves quickly. Even the icy wind was better than listening to them.
Amanda caught the tang of cigarette smoke as she rounded the corner, and froze for a moment. Then she shook herself and headed for the steps. The smokers of the mansion were generally the people she considered 'hers', and at the very least they wouldn't make her life overly difficult. Her relief deepened as she saw it was Remy.
"Got a light?" she asked, already pulling her own pack out of her coat pocket.
Remy held up a finger and grinned. "Always chere. Remy good like that." He smirked, and touched the tip of her cigarette with his finger, the kinetic charge flashing the smoke into flash.
She smiled briefly and pulled the smoke deeply into her lungs, wincing a little at the burn - she'd been smoking pretty much constantly since Monday and was already almost through one of the cartons Shinobi had given her. "Good trick t' have," she said, exhaling with a short cough. "When yer able t' use it."
"Not often dat Remy's not. My own best lighter." He said, taking a long drag and looking out on the snowy grounds. "Damn grey day, though. Makes de mansion look cheery compared t' dis."
"Yeah. Tho' the angst level in there almost makes it look like spring out here." Amanda shivered, from more than the cold - the buzz she'd gotten from the crystal was wearing off faster than she'd thought it would, and the first pangs were returning.
"Not surprising though. Dat many students and teachers, half repressed and righteous, de other half ain't got a moral between dem. Remy was expecting open warfare by de end of de week." Remy snorted, smoke curling from the corner of his mouth.
"Glad t' be of help then," said Amanda with the barest hint of wry amusement. Eventually this whole thing would be funny – maybe - but right now she had to deal with traumatised people every time she turned around, it seemed, and the pressure on her little-used conscience was beginning to tell. She took another long drag on her cigarette - she was already half-way through it - and exhaled smoke through her nose in two streams.
"Figured dis might be your work, chere. Hardly de swiftest move." Remy said, not unkindly, but obviously not too sympathetically either. "Still, dere was entertainment. Heard dat Marie girl got caught. Break up dat more righteous den thou attitude."
"Yeah, fucking brilliant idea, weren't it? If it'd been someone else I would have thought they were a right turnip." Amanda flicked ash over the railing, and, noticing the fag was almost burnt down to the filter, groped in her pocket for the pack. The action let her hide her wince at the mention of Marie. "Great way t' fuck up what I had goin' for me here."
"True. But den dat’s not necessarily true. Fact is dat if you can join de other side and still come back, dey not about t' send you packing." Remy looked out over the ground contemplatively. "Sides, what's de worst dat can happen?"
"You know - you've been there. An' I dunno know 'bout you, but I'm buggered if I'm gunna end up on a street corner when I'm thirty, tryin' t' make a livin' as the tom with the hacked-up skin." Amanda let her new cigarette from the remains of the previous one. "We both know there ain't no future in that."
"Non, but dis ain't de only future either, chere." Remy shook out another cigarette. "Look, all Remy is saying is dat dere is no reason t' be scared 'bout t'ings. You fucked up, pretty well, as I see. Pissed off de masters here. But dey not in charge of your life, chere. Dey tell you t' jump in a direction you don't wan' t' go, you tell dem t' fuck dem selves. Remy been a whore before, and not looking t' do it again, no matter how nice de mansion be."
Amanda shrugged. "I won't be one of their X-Men, if that's what yer gettin' at. That whole hero lark? Yeah, right." Her lip curled. "But it's hard t' see what other choices I have - stay here, go t' school, behave meself enough not t' get tossed out, or, what? You got any ideas on what a sixteen year old street kid with no education, a fucking incomprehensible mutation an' a magic habit can do out there?"
"Remy got a few ideas." Lebeau scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Look, wit' what you can do, de streets are not de place you going t' be unless you decide dey are. As for dis place, dat going t' have t' be your decision. You fucked up, true. Pretty bad, actually. But dat don give dem power over you if you don like de terms. Dey want you t' be dere excuse, leave."
She was quiet for a long moment, thinking his words over. Part of her was terrified at the thought of leaving what was rapidly becoming a sanctuary, but Remy had touched a nerve. Her entire life she'd been taking direction from others. Even at her most rebellious, she had simply done what the other rebels of her groups were doing. Rack's training had left a weakness in her psyche, one she was just becoming aware of. She scowled at Remy - fucker was always right about this stuff, even when she didn't want him to be.
"If I stay, it's because I want t'," she said at last. "This potion thing... it showed me what I'm turnin' into. Someone who treats other people like toys just because she can. Like... Manny." She tightened her lips. "I don't want t' be like that."
"Long as you sure about dat, chere. When Remy leaves, it not t' go back on de streets, dat for sure. Dis place might change you for de good, or twist you up so you don' know who you are. Who knows? But it not de only place, and long as you keep dat in mind, maybe you make out alright."
"I will. Keep that in mind." She watched the smoke from both their cigarettes spiralling out into the cold air. "Yer a smug bastard, Le Beau, but yer all right."
"Don’ tell anyone. Ruin my reputation, chere."
