Amara and Monet | Tuesday

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Monet drags Amara out of the Elpis office for coffee, and the two girls chat.

So, it wasn't that Amara was unused to working hard, or spending hours at a computer doing mindless typing. But that didn't mean it still didn't take her toll, which is why she was leaning back in her chair at her desk at Elpis, head tilted back as she rubbed her eyes. She should probably get up and take a proper break, but she was determined to get at least this batch done before she did.

"Dude." Monet put her own data entry down and got up, walking across to Amara's desk. "I think we need coffee. Or at least, I need a coffee before I fly off to Morocco and strangle a few people in the projects we're doing there because my god, they're all dyslexic at forms."

"I am certainly not going to say no to coffee," Amara said with a smile, straightening up and letting her hands drop. "Real coffee, yes? Not what they have in the kitchen here." It's possible Amara was a coffee snob. Just a little bit of one.

"Oh, honey. That stuff isn't coffee." Monet leaned forward slightly, confidentially and smiled. "Tell you a secret? I keep the real coffee and a little stovetop espresso thing in my second desk drawer, inside an empty jumbo box of pads. It keeps John and Angelo away from it."

"... that is an extremely clever idea. I never would have thought of that." Hiding it from John and Angelo, yes. But not in an empty pad box. "Though I'm not sure I need an excuse to drink any more coffee than I already do."

"Bull. Ever since Nate brought in the rule about no beer while doing data entry, you need the extra coffee." Monet grabbed her handbag and waved at the door. "Come on!"

"That doesn't seem like that bad a rule to me!" But Amara laughed anywhere, grabbing her bag as well before following Monet out. "How long have you been working here? If you don't mind me asking."

"You think that now. You'll learn. And. man, I've been here since, shit, 2008. I got sick, dropped out of uni for a while and Nate said I wouldn't last a week, no matter how bored I was." Monet paused speculatively. "I think he might have been doing a number on me."

Amara hid something of a smile. "Well, you seem to have lasted far longer than a week. Perhaps he thought you would enjoy it, but needed the challenge of proving him wrong."

"Something like that, anyway." Now at the coffee shop, Monet shouldered her way to the front of the line, ahead of a little old lady and a couple of students. "Two lattes please."

Apologising to the people Monet has just pushed in front of, Amara joined the other woman at the counter. "But obviously you still enjoy it."

"It's a challenge. And occasionally people shoot at you or sic angry mutants on you. Things like that. Kind of like our other job, you know?"

"There's never a dull moment," Amara agreed with a smile, handing over some money to the cashier before accepting her coffee. "I think I'm just sorry that I hadn't started working there sooner."

"Sure there is. You just haven't done enough filing yet to realise it," Monet said, moving back out of the shop. "Anyway, we're glad to have you. We need more people who aren't morons."

"I don't mind it so much. It gives my mind a chance to rest." Amara wasn't so optimistic she could claim that filing was anything more than a mindless chore, but it did mean her brain got some downtime from studying. ... except when she was listening to language tapes. Shhh. "Do you get a lot of morons wanting to work at Elpis?"

"We got Yvette didn't we? And half the Pack and their only qualification is that they can shoot things real good."

"Yvette's lovely!" Amara couldn't help but stick up for her roommate - she didn't see her much, but they got along fine when she did. "But I can see how the Pack would be a problem."

"I never said she wasn't lovely!" Monet said, indignantly. "The Pack? Some of them are kind of special, you know? They kind of mean well but they default to 'I can blow things up naow.' Not that there's anything wrong with that, but. You know?"

"She's not a moron either!" Amara shook her head. "Blowing up things doesn't usually solve things in the best way possible. Even if it is often the easiest solution."

"I suppose I can agree with you on that..." Monet took a moment to bond with her coffee. "But blowing things up is satisfying. I've always wished I got that as well, as an additional power."

"Sometimes it is," Amara acquiesced. Blowing up stuff in India with Tabitha and Angel had been more than satisfying, though Amara didn't often feel like that. "Don't you already have all the powers in the world? Surely another one would be overkill."

"Hardly. And it would be fun. It would totally make up for the fact that I'm completely useless as a telepath..."

"Aren't you..." Amara stopped to think about this, trying to remember what she knew of Monet's powers. "Also superstrong and invulnerable? That is not entirely useless."

"You forgot that I can fly" Monet said, drifting along in the air for a few meters. She gave a startled passerby a dazzling smile. "But that's useless for doing the dishes and Kurt would prefer it if I at least did some when I'm in his suite and Sam probably feels the same. Unfortunately there's a distinct shortage of povvo students to pay to do my chores at the moment. I might see if Molly wants a job. I haven't asked. But if I had some sort of energy power, I could just kill them all with fire instead of having to actually wash them."

"Or you could just do your own dishes," Amara said with a good-natured grin. "Dishes start to get expensive if you have to replace them every time."

"You have seen my manicure, right? I have to get this lady with special metalworking files to do my nails. I'm not ruining that on dishes."

"How would dishes ruin your nails if they're that tough?"

"You do know that nail polish chips, don't you? I mean, you have come across that since you moved out of the jungle, right?"

"Yes, thank you," Amara replied, her eyes narrowing. "I just don't usually find I have the time to care all that much about the state of my nails."

"That's so sad. I'm sorry to hear that," Monet said, completely missing Amara's irritation. She opened the door to the office again and waved Amara in first.

"Yes, I can tell." Amara just rolled her eyes, walking into the office ahead of Monet. "Thank you for the coffee." Amara might have been annoyed, but it was rare that she was ever rude.