amara, manuel and valentia

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Amara happens to run into Manuel and Valentia as they're all arriving back at the mansion, and over a meal the adults discuss Nova Roma.

Amara had been a little preoccupied since her discussion with Amanda about Nova Roma - understandably, perhaps, the prospect of your entire life and the history of your home being a lie was a lot to digest. While she was doing her best to distract herself from thinking about it too much - between school, work, training, HeliX and planning for the trip away at Christmas, it wasn't hard - but she found herself dwelling on it as she walked up the driveway on her way home. And of course, once it was in her mind, she couldn't get it out, which meant she wasn't paying attention as she entered the mansion. She didn't notice the other two figures just arriving home as well, and was quite startled when she noticed Manuel and Valentia.

"Oh! Good afternoon Manuel, Valentia." She smiled politely at both of them, though her heart wasn't really in her otherwise cheery greeting.

"Good day Senorita," Manuel greeted, at the same time Valentia gestured her greeting. They were headed for the kitchen, take out in hand and Manuel paused, gesturing to Amara. "Would you care to join us for dinner?" he asked.

"Oh," she said with a blink, not quite expecting the invitation, or even the continued conversation. She hesitated - she wasn't completely opposed to the idea of having dinner with them, Manuel was occasionally pleasant when he wasn't being maddeningly confusing and Valentia was a doll, but Amanda's comment about Manuel and Selene was preying on her mind now that she was confronted with him. She was curious about his experiences - but not curious enough to pry. "I, well, I suppose, yes, thank you." She stumbled through her acceptance, inwardly wincing at how rude she sounded.

Yes, how rude indeed. Although Manuel said nothing despite the fact that he felt the shift in her. She was wary of him, that much he could see and although he felt that he had aliviated some of that through the horsebackriding lessons, still they lingered. More so now than before and couldn't figure out why she had so many underlying dark emotions about him.

Once in the kitchen, the food was set down and Valentia made herself at home at the table, whereas Manuel fetched a plate. His sister gestured for milk and he complied without a word passed between them, also getting a drink for Amara as well.

"Is something on your mind?" he asked casually.

Amara had been uncharacteristically silent - while she wasn't exactly chatty, keeping up a stready stream of small talk wasn't beyond her at all. But she was lost in her thoughts, smiling and nodding when appropriate but otherwise not saying much. She jumped a little at the question, startled by him speaking to her.

"No," she replied immediately, then realising it was a ridiculous thing to lie about. "I mean, yes, there is." She paused again, realising how entirely rude she was being. "I'm sorry, I'm being so rude." There were times at which she didn't mind being rude to Manuel, but this wasn't one of them. "Amanda had some news for me about home, it's been preying on my thoughts a great deal."

"Yes?" Manuel asked, gesturing for her to continue. It wasn't beyond him to pry, even listen as he helped his sister to her food and then served Amara before himself. If one were to lookat this picture, it was almost normal from an outsider's view, although Manuel was very much turned inwardly, thoughtlessly echoing Amara's emotions to his sister without thinking about it.

"I--" She stopped, glancing over at Valentia briefly. She wasn't entirely sure how much of the story should be repeated in front of her, or really how much the younger girl was listening. So instead she changed tack, taking a sip of her drink first. "How much do you know about Nova Roma?" Perhaps that was a safer place to start.

Valentia was listening, but understanding? Not necessarily. She only understood the emotions that were channeled down her brother, who replied evenly as he lifted his fork. "I know nothing of Nova Roma."

"Ah." Well. That - complicated things? Or perhaps it made them simpler. She could at least put off explaining what was on her mind while she talked about her home. "Obviously, it is my home." She paused, wondering how to explain it. "It is located in the Brazilian jungle, and until very recently, we had had no contact with the outside world. It is primarily an agrarian society, considering we have to provide our own food. It is... loosely structured in the manner of the Roman senate - my father is currently the First Senator, and has served as a senator my whole life." She paused, wondering how much more detail she should give. "We... used to worship a goddess known as Selene." She looked down at her food, not having touched any of it. "This is now forbidden." She stopped again, frowing. "Sorry, I'm making a mess of this." She smiled a little. "What Amanda found out involves Selene."

Whatever food Manuel was eating was sucked in immediately at the name and he abruptly dropped his fork and coughed, twice, hitting his chest before he dislodged the food from his throat and swallowed. It took a moment to collect himself and he got some water, closing off an alarming link with his sister, although absently, his hand brushed her hair as if to reassure her that he was okay and it was only the food and not the name that had alarmed him.

It was possibly the first time anyone in a long time had seen Manuel waver so badly and he exhaled before setting the glass down, patiently collecting together more than his own emotions that went momentarily awall. "Sorry," he leaned forward and retrieved his fork. "You were saying?"

Amara wasn't entirely surprised at Manuel's reaction - the little Amanda had mentioned about Manuel's own history with Selene, it sounded like he had had a much closer interaction than she had. She didn't say anything - or even really look at Manuel much as he recovered, letting him have his reaction and sooth Valentia as privately as she could.

"It is, apparently, possible that she was more than simply our goddess." There was a wealth of information Amara wasn't passing onto Manuel here - she might have, if Valentia wasn't here, but the young girl did not need to be present during a discussion of human sacrifice, particularly when the sacrifices were females of varying ages. "Amanda believes that she may have created Nova Roma around twenty years ago, which directly contradicts the founding stories I was taught as a child."

"That would not surprise me," Manuel replied evenly, eventually setting down his fork, although his hand still remained on his sister's head until she pushed him away. He turned to her and gave his sister an impatient stare and she countered it before he raised his eyebrows and looked down at her food as if to say eat it.

His attention returned to Amara promptly. "She was incredibly vain and sadistic," he continued, assuming Amanda spoke to Amara about Selene and filled her in accordingly, although he wasn't sure if she knew what Selene was really made of.

Amara smiled a little at the interaction between brother and sister - it was comfortable and familial, and Amara surprised herself with a moment of longing for something like that. She glanced down again, hoping Manuel hadn't noticed.

"You don't need to tell me how evil she was," Amara said sharply, perhaps a little bit too much so. Perhaps it was just simply because she'd just had a moment of wanting family, or just simply a reflex reaction to mentions of Selene, but her old guilt and anger regarding the circumstances of her power manifestation flared up as her temper did.

"I understand, you probably saw it first hand," Manuel replied, although it was not in his usual cruel and cutting tone. No, not with his sister here. Instead, he was patient and rested a hand over hers, attempting to cool her temper without the use of emotions. "Histories are so seldom rewritten as easily as they are written," he replied, although yes, he did catch the look but it was not something he openly admitted to seeing.

Amara took a deep breath, taking the moment to restrain her temper since Valentia was in the room. "Yes," she replied simply, without elaborating. That was not a conversation she was willing to have right now. "But if Amanda is correct, then that is precisely what she did. She rewrote the histories of the entire population of Nova Roma."

Manuel could feel how precariously her temper was on a balance and he removed his hand, gesturing for Valentia to take her meal into the recroom and remove her from the situation. When she did that, he turned his attention back on Amara, and cooled her with a faint slip of empathy, though it was nothing she would notice immediately. "We should not talk about it in front of Valentia. She doesn't understand emotions quite like I do," he lied. His sister understood them too well, that being her means of communication for four years of her life, although he liked to protect her from anymore than she needed.

Amara watched Valentia leave, her temper slowly calming as she sat quietly. She looked over to Manuel once she was gone, replying coolly. "No, we should not discuss it in front of her because no four year old should be present during discussions about someone like her." There was an emphasis on the word her, even if it were obvious who Amara referred to. "My apologies."

"It is fine," Manuel said and collected up his own plate. "I believe I am finished eating anyways." It was more of the 'its not you, its me' that was going on there and as he stood, the brief gaze they exchanged said as much. He could not fix the thoughts as he was not a telepath, but he could ignore the emotions that went along with it, his own set onto the backburner as he needed careful time to calm the inter turmoil.

There was a slight smile in response from Amara - this wasn't exactly an easy topic to discuss, and she would not hold it against him for the conversation coming to an end. "Thank you for listening," she said simply, getting up and helping him to clear up. It was an odd thing, how much calmer she felt about it right now, but she was not going to question it. She was just happy to be.