xp_logs | Amanda and Kurt; Amanda and Meggan

Backdated - Returning from Nova Roma, Amanda finds out about Nick and goes to the mansion to try a location spell.

Normally Amanda parked in the garage, but today she left her car in the driveway and went straight for the front door. Too much to do in too little time, and the sooner she made the attempt to locate Nick, the better. She was just raising her finger to push the doorbell when the door opened.

"I thought it was you", Kurt said with only a quick half-smile to go with the greeting. "I hope things went well in Nova Roma?"

Amanda pulled a face before stepping forward to wrap her brother in a tight hug. "As well as could be expected, what with Selene's brain washing all unravelling. 'Mara's stayed back to try and help." She pulled back a little, still holding onto Kurt's arms, and looked into his face. "How are you doing?"

He looked... worn, whip-thin and tired, from doing too much and spreading his resources too thin. "As you might expect. I tried to defend him..."

"Of course you did." Amanda's expression held a note of Kurt's pain - around this time of year, loss was a particularly resonant theme for her, with Charlie's death still close to her heart. She pulled him in for another hug, going up on tip-toe to put her chin on his shoulder. "It's okay, Blue. We'll help you look for him."

Kurt wrapped his arms around her, tight. "I must believe that he survived, somehow, even with his wounds. If the Reavers took him... but we will find him, one way or the other."

"Stranger things have happened around here," Amanda pointed out. "Look at Jean, came back a year after the fact, just about." She squeezed him again and let go. "The location spell might work better in his room - can you bamf me up there?"

"Of course." He reached for her hand, both for the teleportation and not wanting to relinquish the human contact just yet. "All his things are there, we can find something that would work."

"Preferably something non-flammable," said the witch with a wry grin, more to try and cheer him up than out of any real concern. "Last time I tried this, I blew up Jennie's stereo."

He grinned crookedly at that. "Nothing flammable or electrical, understood."

She brightened at the grin, no matter how brief it was. "All right, let's get this done." She theatrically held her nose against the smell of Kurt's teleportation cloud. "Bamf away."

A quick nod, his hand tightened on hers, and the next moment they were upstairs, in Nick's bedroom. "What sort of thing would you be looking for?"

Amanda looked around the room, waving the cloud of brimstone away from her face absently as she perused the contents. "Something he had... has a connection with," she began, stepping away from Kurt to look over the shelves. "Something he used a lot, or that meant something imporant to him." She picked up a book, turning it over in her hands and then setting it down again. "When you went missing, I used your X-Men tags. Something like that."

"I know just the thing", he said, eyes on Nick's desk as he stepped that way. "Nick does love his Shakespeare... here is A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Amanda took the book Kurt held out to her, noting the worn cover and dog-eared pages. Obviously a well-loved and often-read one. "This ought to do..." she mused. Hopefully there wouldn't be fire this time. "I made sure I recharged in New York before I came out, so I've got plenty of juice. Can you clear a spot on the floor for me? This works better sitting down."

He nodded and hastily began moving things onto the bed - Nick's room had been left untouched, as messy as the next teenage boy's, but it didn't take long to make a space big enough for Amanda to sit. "There. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"Stand ready with a fire extinguisher?" Amanda joked with a half-grin.
He snorted. "As a compromise, I will be ready to fetch one."

The snort was good to hear. The witch dropped to sit Indian-style on the floor with a certain amount of grace that might have surprised those who didn't know the finer aspects of her work. The book cradled carefully in her hands, she closed her eyes and summoned up an image of Nick as she'd last scene him, all nervous and twitchy about meeting his new family, his face lighting up as Kurt spoke well of him. In her hands, the book grew warm as her power rose, looking for a direction to focus on, but there was no burning. Not yet, at least.

Find him, she told the energy living inside of her, using the framework of her old location spell to give it structure. Find him for me and for Kurt. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for the impression of whichever city Nick was closest to.

Instead, there was nothing, just the sense of her magic refusing to go anywhere, as if it didn't understand the command.

Find Nick, she reiterated, focussing on the book in her hands as if to give her power a 'scent'. He's lost and we need to find him.

Still nothing, and the book was getting dangerously warm in her hands. Amanda opened her eyes at the slightest whiff of smoke, the energy draining out of her so abruptly she slumped a little. "Bugger," she muttered.

Kurt dropped next to her from where he'd been standing watching anxiously. "What happened? It did not work?"

Amanda sighed, scooping back a handful of hair from her face. "I'm sorry, Blue, I really am. I'm not sure what happened - I couldn't get a fix."
"You tried", he said quietly, "and I thank you for that. What could cause the spell to fail?"

"Lots of things," she immediately replied, looking down at the book in her hands. "It might be I don't know him well enough to get a proper picture, or we don't have anything that's meaningful enough to him. He might be nowhere near a city so I don't have the range. Or he's being hidden somehow." She looked up at Kurt a little helplessly. "Or he's not able to be found."

"Which would mean", Kurt completed, voice carefully empty though his eyes said something different, "that he is dead. Yes? Although I know, it is only one possibility."

Amanda nodded. "Like you say, it's only one possibility. Magic's not a science, Blue. Too many things can get in the way to really be sure of anything."

He nodded in response, understanding. "There is still hope, then. Perhaps I will hire Morgan, as she has her new business."

"The PI thing? Yeah, might be a plan." Amanda wasn't in touch with Morgan/Vanessa any more, not since their fight, but she had been aware of what was going on and Bishop's moonlighting from X-Force. "I'll do the best I can with our resources too, see what we can get on these Reavers, where they've been lurking, where they might have gone. They might not have taken Nick, but they're a lead." She wrinkled her nose. "Too bad they're untraceable with the magic. Too much tech, even for me these days."

"I find it hard to believe he left on his own", Kurt said quietly. "He was among friends, the Reavers were retreating, and with his wound... but perhaps the wound itself, or the blood loss, affected his mind. Thank you for whatever you can do."

"The Reavers taking an injured mutant makes even less sense, at least to me - they're not exactly warm and fuzzy towards us." Amanda shrugged a little. She didn't add that if the Reavers had wanted to stop Nick from getting medical help or take some kind of revenge, someone from the mansion would have found his body in a ditch by now. "I'll do what I can, Blue, same as I'm sure everyone else is doing. You gunna be okay?"

"If we find him, yes", he said simply. "And if we do not... eventually."

She reached over and took his hand, giving it a tired squeeze. "Just remember, you don't have to do it alone. You've got people here for you."
He squeezed back, smiling ruefully. "I always have, jel'enedra, though it may seem I have forgotten it sometimes. I love you."

"Love you too, Blue."

Following the unsuccessful spell, Amanda drops in on her other Xavier's sibling, to see how Kurt's really been doing.

Meggan was taking a quick break from things on one of the branches of the tree nearest to her room. It was sturdy enough for her and possibly one other person, and comfortable so long as birds didn’t decide to build a nest there. In the spot she was currently relaxing in, she was getting a very nice breeze through the leaves every so often. It was peaceful, and the leaves were providing some welcome shade.

Of course, if the temperature went up by much more that breeze wouldn’t be providing any relief at all. She might just need to head down to the pool for a quick dip, she thought with a small sigh. The water would cool her off more.

Her contemplations were interrupted by a familar voice, and a blonde head poking through her window. "Hey, Meg. Trying to keep cool?" Amanda looked a little tired, but she'd summoned a smile for her little sister. "Got room for an old lady like me out there?"

Meggan looked over at her with a grin, nodding. “Of course there’s room, Amanda.” She waved her forward, moving over a little more. “Come on up. Just watch out for the small woodpecker a few inches to your left. That one’s been eyeing a couple spots nearby, too.” It was probably just waiting for her to leave before it claimed the spot for pecking.

Amanda hoisted herself over the edge of the windowsill and into the tree, moving with less awkwardness than her words had implied - Amanda wasn't a tree person, but she did have to climb for the job sometimes and she tried to keep in as much shape as she could, even when away from New York. "You and Kurt and trees," she mock grumbled, finding a place to settle where she wouldn't fall out. "Monkeys, the lot of you."

“Monkeys have the right idea. Hanging from trees is fun,” Meggan jokingly countered, simultaneously making sure Amanda was settled and not about to fall out of said tree.

When the woodpecker hopped to a branch above them, having presumably given up on procuring the branch, she glanced back and commented, “As long as that one doesn’t peck his way through any branches, we’re okay.” Meggan leaned over almost precariously from her spot for a quick hug. “Welcome back,” she murmured in Amanda's shoulder.

"Good to be back, Monkey Girl," Amanda replied, pressing a kiss to the top of Meggan's head before the younger girl pulled back. "How're you doing? It's been a pretty shite month for you kids so far."

Meggan nodded as she leaned back, scrunching her nose a little bit. “Oh, yeah. It’s really not been that great for anybody, I’m guessing.” She shook her head after a moment. “I think I’m mostly doing okay…it was Kurt I was more worried over for a little bit. Everybody else, too.” Catseye and Yvette were high up there on her own list of people to be worried for, too.

"How's he been coping?" Amanda asked, knowing Meggan would know she meant their older brother. "Knowing him, he probably did the hermit thing - is he still holing up in his room?"

“I think he came out for a little while, but yeah—it’s mostly been hermit time. I stayed with him for a night just to make sure he’d actually get some sleep.” Meggan wasn’t sure how much it had helped, but it was better than doing nothing. It had possibly helped to ward off a few nightmares for a little while, at the very least.

"I'm glad you've been here to take care of him - he's awful about looking after himself when he needs it, too much looking after everyone else." Amanda's tone might have been light, but she meant it sincerely - she was having her own guilt about not being around for the disappearance of their newest family member.

Meggan wrapped one arm around Amanda, careful not to accidentally knock either of them off their perch. “I noticed. I just didn’t want him getting sick. Running on less than fumes, he wouldn't be able to help anybody.”

With a tiny grin, she noted, “At least I didn’t have to sit on him until he gave up and listened to me. Even if Triscuit probably would have helped with that one.” A faint knocking announced that their pesky woodpecker was attacking a branch closer to the top of the tree with gusto.

Amanda snorted and leaned into the hug, equally carefully. "He's improving, then. I remember back in the day he'd go until he dropped, silly man." She paused, and then looked at her sister with a grin. "And when did you get all grown up, Monkey Girl? Next thing we know, you'll be dating."

Meggan grinned at the idea of her being grown up. She really hadn’t noticed and shook her head. “Sneaks up on you. I think it’s more of a work in progress?” In a light tone, she teased, “Ooh, dating. I can picture the look on Kurt’s face if I went out on a date. Or maybe even me driving?” That look was bound to be funny. Well, to her, she mused—maybe not to him. “You never know. Maybe someday,” she chuckled.

"Hey, someone else in this family needs a driving licence. Can't just be me and the Broomstick, even if you can fly and I can teleport. Sort of." Amanda snorted. Her particular brand of 'teleporting' was still a lucky dip in terms of destinations if she tried to go further than one city's 'centre'. "Maybe that'd help distract him from this whole Nick mystery - start driving lessons and ask him to come along?"

That was true. It would probably get his mind off things for however long it took to teach her what she should and shouldn’t do. “I hope so. Once I get to passing the written section of it, I’ll see if I can rope him into that.” Meggan paused, before adding with a grin, “And if he’s not completely sure, I could always unleash some pleading puppy eyes as a last resort. Making them into actual sad animal eyes might be too creepy.” She probably wouldn't do that, but the possibility was there.

Amanda wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Yeah, leave those for Triscuit, I think. 'Cause as distracting as the whole creepy eye thing might be, we'll save that for drastic measures, yeah?" She nudged the younger girl with her shoulder and wobbled slightly on the branch, grabbing it to stabilise herself. "All right, that's enough up close time with Mother Nature for me. Want to get some food? I need to fill up after that location spell and Salem Centre's not big enough for me to snack on, so actual food it'll have to be."

Meggan reached over to steady her, and shot her a worried grin. “Yeah, that sounds good—how about spaghetti and meatballs? But you go inside first before you fall.” That woodpecker had moved on, so it shouldn’t give them any difficulties. She remembered another tiny problem, though, and gestured to a spot near the window. “And watch out for that small branch as you slide in—it doesn’t snag you going out, just going in if you don’t know how to avoid it.” Floating over it was her way. Sliding over and then pulling off a move that was part bouncing and part wiggling seemed to work with everyone else.

"You're so catching me if I slip, Monkey," Amanda muttered as she moved gingerly back towards the window. "Give me a fire escape and I'm fine. Put leaves on it and it tries to kill me." She saw the branch Meggan had mentioned and tried to avoid it, but it grabbed onto her belt loop all the same. "Bugger. Help?"

“I've got you,” Meggan laughed, as she unhooked Amanda from the limb. "Swing from a branch like Tarzan and dive into the open window now,” Meggan teased. “Or just scoot a little bit and shuffle sideways. Either way works.” She reached over and plucked a few fallen leaves off of Amanda’s hair.

"I'm more of a Jane in this particular case, tho' you didn't hear me say that." Amanda shuffled along the branch and managed to get a death grip on the window sill, before laboriously hauling herself inside. Brushing loose bark off the back of her jeans, she watched her sister hovering outside. "Next time I think I'll just get you to fly me in, if you're up for taking passengers yet."

“I haven’t tried people yet, just animals…but it’s not that far over, and people probably wouldn’t wriggle nearly as much,” Meggan mused as she landed in the room. “It could work.” With a grin at Amanda, she continued, “I’m going to say sorry right now just in case I ever drop you, though. And don’t worry. There shouldn’t be any George of the Jungle moments. I won’t fling you at the tree.”

The witch poked her tongue out at her younger sibling and ruffled her hair. "Thanks ever so, Monkey. Now, how about dinner? I could eat a horse."

Meggan grinned as she ducked away. “How’s Italian sound? Spaghetti and meatballs like I mentioned, plus breadsticks?” Retaliatory ruffling was due, and accomplished by quickly floating over her older sister and landing behind her. She had finally perfected that move, missing the lamp entirely—this time, anyway. There might be a slight scuff mark on the ceiling, and she would fix that later. “Hey, I finally got you that time,” she smiled.

"Argh! No fair! You're already taller than me without the flying!" Amanda mock-protested as the pair headed downstairs. "Whatever happened to respecting your elders?"