Amanda and Lex - Wednesday evening
Feb. 23rd, 2011 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsGetting stir crazy and bored, Amanda wanders District X and runs into Lex.
While District X was X-Factor's 'territory', it wasn't unusual to see one of the Trenchcoat Brigade - no more 'Junior Trenchcoats' now in X-Force, Amanda reflected as she walked along the street - in the area. Not always for work purposes, either; Amanda liked the area, the memories of Brighton it evoked, and she tended to wander into one of the bars or restaurants for a quiet drink or dinner away from work. It gave her a chance to unwind, to chat to new people without having to hide her mutancy, to just be. And this evening was one such time; as cold and snowy as the streets were, she was enjoying her stroll, hat pulled down over her ears, scarf wrapped around her face. It had been a stressful few weeks - had been, really, since Nico's powers emerged, not to mention the trip to New Orleans - and Amanda had been feeling tired and a bit flat. Getting out and walking the streets was just what she needed.
The weather wasn't great for walking the city, but Lex needed to be away from the mansion for a while. Vee's apartment wasn'ty an option any more, so instead of sitting around in the warmth, he decided to go into District X to see what the residents were up to. As he entered the district he let the sense of belonging wash over him; a year ago he would have been appalled with how openly people wore their mutations but his time at the mansion had cured him of his inborn fear of rejection. Now he went to District X at least once a week to keep in touch with people and get away from the eyes of the general public.
Amanda might be relaxing, but she was still staying alert - Doug being jumped was a lesson in not letting your guard down. And so when she side-stepped to avoid being bumped into by another bundled-up shape, she recognized the face and grinned. "Hey Lex."
"What?" Lex said before he saw who was speaking to him, he was so wrapped in his own thoughts, and the frigid air, that he barely noticed the woman he'd almost run into. He turned to see a short blond woman and his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh, Amanda, I apparently didn't see you." He realized that he didn't really know what to say so he looked around to see where she'd come from. "What are you doing out in this awful weather?"
"I'm guessing the same as you - just catching some air." Amanda's tone was ironic in the face of the biting cold. "But I was thinking of grabbing a drink or something soon, before my ears fall off."
"Well, that sounds a touch better than standing out here. Mind if I join you?" It had been a while since they had talked and Lex felt particularly isolated at the moment. Either that, or he was feeling particularly outgoing—he could never seem to tell which. "I heard there's a great little dive up on the next corner."
"That was the hint, yeah," came the amused reply. "'M still finding the best places around here, so some semi-local knowledge would be great."
"I don't know that I have local knowledge. I've come out here a few times for quite, managed to miss most of the excitement. I've heard of a few good places, stumbled into one or two. It's a strange feeling being surrounded by mutants who you are indirectly responsible for or to so I tend to escape as often as possible." He shrugged to hide a deep shiver before taking off at a brisk pace. He hadn't thought about it when he was in the military, but Lex knew that being raised in Florida made him loathe the cold on some unconscious level. He longed for the warmth, for slinking through the forest in his boots and a pair of shorts. Honestly, winter in New York simply lasted too long for him.
"Which is why I said 'semi-local'. I figure you came here to visit... people often enough you'd have a better idea than me." She had to hurry to keep up with him, confident that her Docs would keep their grip in the slush. "Yeah, the mansion's a bit of a pressure cooker sometimes. Comes of having your secret superhero team living with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. Add enough snow to keep folks inside more often than not, and it gets antsy." She chuckled, remembering a few Christmases ago in the brownstone. "Whereas, the Trenchcoats get quarantined for a week and just break out the booze. Too bad you can't get the kids drunk more often. It'd calm 'em down."
"True, I would ask how the Professor would look upon that form of crowd control but I have the feeling I already know the answer to that one." A devilish smirk appeared on his face, when he first joined the military and was transferred to his first platoon they threw him a full-blown party. He realized then that alcohol was one of the military's greatest tools. Any time they thought about doing something stupid the officers would supply them with just enough booze to take their minds off the idea. He didn't know if it was standard practice, but he found it to be highly effective.
"Here we are, the Red Oak Tavern. It's a great little Irish pub run by an ex-patriot. You're gonna love him."
"Well, he'll know a proper beer at least," Amanda replied with the dismissive attitude of an Englishwoman in New York. Her opinion of American beer was pretty low, by and large. "And the X geezer uses tea. Lots and lots of Earl Grey tea. I think he figures if everyone's too busy needing to pee, they can't get into trouble."
"Well, that's one way to solve the problem, I suppose. However, it's only effective when he's got them detained in lectures. They seem too good at finding trouble whenever they're left to their own devices." He walked down 7 steps and opened the door, it was a dark oak door with a bronze oak leaf mounted below the window. The smell of fried food blew out, covering him with an aroma of grease and the heavy smell of smoldering cheese. "After you."
"Just be glad I'm not still a student - if the Prof had hair still, it would've gone grey from what I got up to." Amanda sniffed happily at the scents of Pub.
"Oh, this is already looking to be my sort of place," she said with a grin, tugging her hat off her head as she passed Lex to go inside.Lex held the door just long enough for her to clear it and then followed her in. He recognized have the people in the bar from the last two times he'd been in there, but he couldn't see the owner. He had been hoping to introduce Amanda to the man to see how she'd react. Then again, she would see enough once they ordered food.
"I'm sure most of the former students could make that claim," he said, "they all seem to be very good at negotiating what is acceptable, at least good enough to keep themselves from getting put on house arrest."
"Unless you're Julian or Nico," came the wry reply. "Two AWOL in one weekend, I have to say, it was a good try at beating the record."
"There are always exceptions, and I'm surprised the Professor hasn't kicked the Keller boy out of the mansion yet. He obviously doesn't need anyone to watch his back." The liquid venom in his voice could have been measured in gallons. "That's something I don't really want to think about right now. I'd much rather mull over life in a deep glass of rich stout." Lex moved towards the table at the far end of the bar, his normal seat.
Amanda followed, giving Lex a philosophical shrug as she sat down. "As the one student to ever have been expelled, Julian's got a way to go before he's that bad." She leaned back, looking over the other man. "So, your first real magical battle. How're you coping with knowing the world isn't quite the same as you thought?"
"That's been my life since I came to the mansion. There's nothing quite like having your world view change every other week," he let out a chuckle and smiled. Nothing had been easy, or consistent, since he'd come to the mansion. "Magic is interesting, I imagine that if I had the ability to touch it I would be able to understand it. It's like a system that you use words, gestures, and rituals to manipulate, right?"
Amanda nodded, pleased by the curiosity. "Pretty much. 'S a bit like an energy conversion power - energy goes into the user, or into a device, and comes out as a spell. I use the energy I get from cities for my magic, which is why I wasn't exactly a powerhouse in Wyoming. Now power source to use." She grinned. "And why I won't be packing this in for a quiet life in the country any time soon. Apart from the fact I'd be bored stupid."
"I can only imagine. I don't know that I could live in a third world country now that I breathe my mutation. The moment I took it up and stopped loathing it I think it became a part of my identity." He smiled, there were simple joys of understanding the beauty of a system and Lex was looking forward to getting it back. It came back, a piece at a time, but Lex was growing a little impatient. "I can't wait till it's fully back, I've been bored and awkward for the past six months. Now all I want to do is explore my powers again."
She raised her eyebrow. "You lost them?" she asked. "And I could murder a pint. Where's the bartender?"
“Right there,” Lex laughed, pointing to a gruff man behind the counter. Standing just under six feet tall, the man had tattoos up both arms and a wicked looking crop of red hair on his head. He moved with the lithe grace of an aged predator and his smile was missing several teeth. As they watched the man turned around and reached into a boiler to pull out a fried tortilla, presumably for a taco salad, and throw it on the counter. He didn’t know how Amanda would take this display, so Lex turned quickly to watch the woman’s face. He was hoping that it would be a worthwhile reaction. “That’s Desmond, the proprietor of this fine establishment. He’ll serve you the best food you’ll ever have at a dive, so long as you can stomach the fact that he prepares everything by hand, literally.”
Amanda's eyebrows had shot up, but she had gotten used to being around mutants, between Brighton, the school and living in New York, that she didn't react immediately to save the man from third degree burns. "Impressive," she said, meaning it. "And easier than fishing around with a pair of tongs."
“Yeah, I bet you it is. I’m sure that being immune to heat would have some other benefits as well. I honestly wish I were immune to electricity sometimes, rather than simply having the ability to control it. Feedback loops are a bitch.” He walked up to the bar and smiled, “Desmond, my friend, give us two pints and some nibbles. We’ll figure out what we want to eat during the first round.”
The bartender gave him a steady nod, about as much communication as he’d ever managed to get out of the man. “Now, let’s sit back and watch the show.” He wanted to know more about magic, but he wasn’t quite sure how to ask yet.
"Nice ink," Amanda remarked as he placed the pints down in front of them. While she'd lost most of her tattoos and piercings along the way, she was still interested in other people's, which was why she didn't mind chatting to Jared about his interest in body mods. "Dinner and a show? Why, you sure know how to show a girl a good time," she added, a Southern twang entering her voice in an exaggerated fashion.
"Don't I just," Lex laughed. He was enjoying the atmosphere and the freedom from his own personal troubles; he was still having a hard time dealing with his breakup. "There are several regulars in here, each with their own crazy story. Desmond's my favorite though, he may not be much of a talker but he's sure as hell entertaining." Lex hadn't had a chance to bring Vanessa there before she ran off, and now he couldn't really imagine wanting to. It would serve very well as his sanctuary within District X. He had gotten used to coming down here to visit her and he wasn't going to stop just because he didn't have that reason.
Lex took a large swig from his pint and swished it around his mouth before swallowing, "You have to respect any man who can cook without utensils and make his own microbrew. I don't know how he does it, but damn I'm glad I found this place." He sighed and sat back, the pain momentarily lifted from his shoulders.
"Well, thanks for sharing it with me. Reminds me of Brighton a bit, with the weird and wacky being normal." Amanda leaned forward to watch Desmond's "show" a little more closely. "So, you're not immune to electricity? That must make things tricky when you're powering up."
"Yes, more so before my powers returned, but definitely still a danger. I can shield myself most of the time, but in order to control large systems I have to use myself as part of the system. Sometimes too much energy gets built up and the feedback hits me like a freight train. Luckily, I can dissipate most of it before it strikes, but even so it's not fun." He thought about the loss of control for a second and shivered, I do not want to lose my powers again, ever. "Isn't that like magic, in a way. You wield it but are not immune to it?"
"Not other people's magic, no. Magic comes from a lot of different places, so it's just about impossible to be immune to all of it; I might be able to block someone's urban type magic, say, then get knocked on my arse by a Wiccan. The overload... it's more like me when I merge with a really big city, like London or New Delhi - I kind of get overwhelmed by the energy of the place and forget myself," Amanda mused. "You mentioned losing your powers before, but didn't say how that happened?"
"I stood in the middle of a battle with the other X-Men and helped them create an EMP large enough to take out most of the Indian fleet. The taxation on my limited understanding of my powers made them go completely haywire and disappear for a time. I didn't have much control over them for almost 8 months. I've only recently gotten them back." He chuckled, it was strange thinking that a month ago he would have had trouble turning on a toaster without making it explode, and now he could do more than he'd ever been able to before India. "They've come back in full, though, which makes my life just a little easier and more comfortable. It's much easier to lose someone you love when you preoccupy yourself with self-exploration."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. Obviously she'd heard on the grapevine about the breakup with Vanessa, but she hadn't gotten details, having been out of town for a while. At least there hadn't been a repeat of Sam standing on the doorstep of the brownstone screaming about them having 'stolen' his girlfriend. "Yeah, sorry to hear about that," she offered, taking a sip of her pint. "'S funny, my last relationship, with Angelo, it wound up ending for similar sorts of reasons. We were both so busy, we never had time for each other, and in the end, we figured it was better just to split up. We're still mates, tho'."
"That's actually rather amusing, all things considered, as his power may be inadvertently responsible for our breakup. Rather, Vee's fascination with his powers surprised me and I made her angry with my response. It was a little more than ridiculous." His laugh was disheartened and morbid. "Yeah, I think the problem with Vanessa and me was that she had gotten used to me not being there while I tried to fix my powers and then decided that there was no us anymore. The sad thing is that I don't think I understand how I could have, or ever can, change that. So, I'm trying to accept it in the name of her happiness and move on." Fat lot of good that will do, he said with his eyes.
Amanda took a long drink of her pint before answering. Relationship advice wasn't her forte, but she liked Vanessa and she liked Lex. And aparently was an inveterate meddler, just like Romany. "See, the thing with Vee? She's had to do for herself all her life, since her mum tossed her out. Looking out for yourself for so long... it makes it hard to let the guard down. And it makes it easy to write things off if they're not going the way you'd hoped. So you disappearing a bit, I'm guessing she took it personal, and decided it was easier for her in the long run to end it." She shrugged a little. "That's just my guess. We both kind of had similar backgrounds, being used a lot, so maybe I have a better idea of how she reacts." With a smile, she added. "I wouldn't write it off entirely. She and I had a huge fight when Jean-Paul came back, didn't speak for months. But we've managed to patch things up now. So where there's life there's hope, right?"
"I will not hold my breath, though I truly hope that you are right. I want to be with her, but I'm not capable of understanding this situation." Lex paused for a moment, staring deep into his mug. He had to give it to Amanda, she was a good person to hang out with. "I appreciate that you are willing to give me your opinions, as I feel like I am wallowing in my own perception of absolute loss. She was the first person I had truly let in since the military, and the only person I tried to be completely open with since the death of my father." He struggled to remain cheerful, but he had promised himself that he wasn't going to let his pain drown him.
"Never mind that, though. I came here to enjoy your company, not ruminate on my brokenness. Let us drink to happier times to come." He raised his glass and took a large swig. There was plenty of time to be alone and in despair, he would save his troubles for when there was nobody around to bore.
"If you're sober enough to use words like 'ruminate', we're going to need another round," Amanda said, raising her glass to him.
While District X was X-Factor's 'territory', it wasn't unusual to see one of the Trenchcoat Brigade - no more 'Junior Trenchcoats' now in X-Force, Amanda reflected as she walked along the street - in the area. Not always for work purposes, either; Amanda liked the area, the memories of Brighton it evoked, and she tended to wander into one of the bars or restaurants for a quiet drink or dinner away from work. It gave her a chance to unwind, to chat to new people without having to hide her mutancy, to just be. And this evening was one such time; as cold and snowy as the streets were, she was enjoying her stroll, hat pulled down over her ears, scarf wrapped around her face. It had been a stressful few weeks - had been, really, since Nico's powers emerged, not to mention the trip to New Orleans - and Amanda had been feeling tired and a bit flat. Getting out and walking the streets was just what she needed.
The weather wasn't great for walking the city, but Lex needed to be away from the mansion for a while. Vee's apartment wasn'ty an option any more, so instead of sitting around in the warmth, he decided to go into District X to see what the residents were up to. As he entered the district he let the sense of belonging wash over him; a year ago he would have been appalled with how openly people wore their mutations but his time at the mansion had cured him of his inborn fear of rejection. Now he went to District X at least once a week to keep in touch with people and get away from the eyes of the general public.
Amanda might be relaxing, but she was still staying alert - Doug being jumped was a lesson in not letting your guard down. And so when she side-stepped to avoid being bumped into by another bundled-up shape, she recognized the face and grinned. "Hey Lex."
"What?" Lex said before he saw who was speaking to him, he was so wrapped in his own thoughts, and the frigid air, that he barely noticed the woman he'd almost run into. He turned to see a short blond woman and his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh, Amanda, I apparently didn't see you." He realized that he didn't really know what to say so he looked around to see where she'd come from. "What are you doing out in this awful weather?"
"I'm guessing the same as you - just catching some air." Amanda's tone was ironic in the face of the biting cold. "But I was thinking of grabbing a drink or something soon, before my ears fall off."
"Well, that sounds a touch better than standing out here. Mind if I join you?" It had been a while since they had talked and Lex felt particularly isolated at the moment. Either that, or he was feeling particularly outgoing—he could never seem to tell which. "I heard there's a great little dive up on the next corner."
"That was the hint, yeah," came the amused reply. "'M still finding the best places around here, so some semi-local knowledge would be great."
"I don't know that I have local knowledge. I've come out here a few times for quite, managed to miss most of the excitement. I've heard of a few good places, stumbled into one or two. It's a strange feeling being surrounded by mutants who you are indirectly responsible for or to so I tend to escape as often as possible." He shrugged to hide a deep shiver before taking off at a brisk pace. He hadn't thought about it when he was in the military, but Lex knew that being raised in Florida made him loathe the cold on some unconscious level. He longed for the warmth, for slinking through the forest in his boots and a pair of shorts. Honestly, winter in New York simply lasted too long for him.
"Which is why I said 'semi-local'. I figure you came here to visit... people often enough you'd have a better idea than me." She had to hurry to keep up with him, confident that her Docs would keep their grip in the slush. "Yeah, the mansion's a bit of a pressure cooker sometimes. Comes of having your secret superhero team living with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. Add enough snow to keep folks inside more often than not, and it gets antsy." She chuckled, remembering a few Christmases ago in the brownstone. "Whereas, the Trenchcoats get quarantined for a week and just break out the booze. Too bad you can't get the kids drunk more often. It'd calm 'em down."
"True, I would ask how the Professor would look upon that form of crowd control but I have the feeling I already know the answer to that one." A devilish smirk appeared on his face, when he first joined the military and was transferred to his first platoon they threw him a full-blown party. He realized then that alcohol was one of the military's greatest tools. Any time they thought about doing something stupid the officers would supply them with just enough booze to take their minds off the idea. He didn't know if it was standard practice, but he found it to be highly effective.
"Here we are, the Red Oak Tavern. It's a great little Irish pub run by an ex-patriot. You're gonna love him."
"Well, he'll know a proper beer at least," Amanda replied with the dismissive attitude of an Englishwoman in New York. Her opinion of American beer was pretty low, by and large. "And the X geezer uses tea. Lots and lots of Earl Grey tea. I think he figures if everyone's too busy needing to pee, they can't get into trouble."
"Well, that's one way to solve the problem, I suppose. However, it's only effective when he's got them detained in lectures. They seem too good at finding trouble whenever they're left to their own devices." He walked down 7 steps and opened the door, it was a dark oak door with a bronze oak leaf mounted below the window. The smell of fried food blew out, covering him with an aroma of grease and the heavy smell of smoldering cheese. "After you."
"Just be glad I'm not still a student - if the Prof had hair still, it would've gone grey from what I got up to." Amanda sniffed happily at the scents of Pub.
"Oh, this is already looking to be my sort of place," she said with a grin, tugging her hat off her head as she passed Lex to go inside.Lex held the door just long enough for her to clear it and then followed her in. He recognized have the people in the bar from the last two times he'd been in there, but he couldn't see the owner. He had been hoping to introduce Amanda to the man to see how she'd react. Then again, she would see enough once they ordered food.
"I'm sure most of the former students could make that claim," he said, "they all seem to be very good at negotiating what is acceptable, at least good enough to keep themselves from getting put on house arrest."
"Unless you're Julian or Nico," came the wry reply. "Two AWOL in one weekend, I have to say, it was a good try at beating the record."
"There are always exceptions, and I'm surprised the Professor hasn't kicked the Keller boy out of the mansion yet. He obviously doesn't need anyone to watch his back." The liquid venom in his voice could have been measured in gallons. "That's something I don't really want to think about right now. I'd much rather mull over life in a deep glass of rich stout." Lex moved towards the table at the far end of the bar, his normal seat.
Amanda followed, giving Lex a philosophical shrug as she sat down. "As the one student to ever have been expelled, Julian's got a way to go before he's that bad." She leaned back, looking over the other man. "So, your first real magical battle. How're you coping with knowing the world isn't quite the same as you thought?"
"That's been my life since I came to the mansion. There's nothing quite like having your world view change every other week," he let out a chuckle and smiled. Nothing had been easy, or consistent, since he'd come to the mansion. "Magic is interesting, I imagine that if I had the ability to touch it I would be able to understand it. It's like a system that you use words, gestures, and rituals to manipulate, right?"
Amanda nodded, pleased by the curiosity. "Pretty much. 'S a bit like an energy conversion power - energy goes into the user, or into a device, and comes out as a spell. I use the energy I get from cities for my magic, which is why I wasn't exactly a powerhouse in Wyoming. Now power source to use." She grinned. "And why I won't be packing this in for a quiet life in the country any time soon. Apart from the fact I'd be bored stupid."
"I can only imagine. I don't know that I could live in a third world country now that I breathe my mutation. The moment I took it up and stopped loathing it I think it became a part of my identity." He smiled, there were simple joys of understanding the beauty of a system and Lex was looking forward to getting it back. It came back, a piece at a time, but Lex was growing a little impatient. "I can't wait till it's fully back, I've been bored and awkward for the past six months. Now all I want to do is explore my powers again."
She raised her eyebrow. "You lost them?" she asked. "And I could murder a pint. Where's the bartender?"
“Right there,” Lex laughed, pointing to a gruff man behind the counter. Standing just under six feet tall, the man had tattoos up both arms and a wicked looking crop of red hair on his head. He moved with the lithe grace of an aged predator and his smile was missing several teeth. As they watched the man turned around and reached into a boiler to pull out a fried tortilla, presumably for a taco salad, and throw it on the counter. He didn’t know how Amanda would take this display, so Lex turned quickly to watch the woman’s face. He was hoping that it would be a worthwhile reaction. “That’s Desmond, the proprietor of this fine establishment. He’ll serve you the best food you’ll ever have at a dive, so long as you can stomach the fact that he prepares everything by hand, literally.”
Amanda's eyebrows had shot up, but she had gotten used to being around mutants, between Brighton, the school and living in New York, that she didn't react immediately to save the man from third degree burns. "Impressive," she said, meaning it. "And easier than fishing around with a pair of tongs."
“Yeah, I bet you it is. I’m sure that being immune to heat would have some other benefits as well. I honestly wish I were immune to electricity sometimes, rather than simply having the ability to control it. Feedback loops are a bitch.” He walked up to the bar and smiled, “Desmond, my friend, give us two pints and some nibbles. We’ll figure out what we want to eat during the first round.”
The bartender gave him a steady nod, about as much communication as he’d ever managed to get out of the man. “Now, let’s sit back and watch the show.” He wanted to know more about magic, but he wasn’t quite sure how to ask yet.
"Nice ink," Amanda remarked as he placed the pints down in front of them. While she'd lost most of her tattoos and piercings along the way, she was still interested in other people's, which was why she didn't mind chatting to Jared about his interest in body mods. "Dinner and a show? Why, you sure know how to show a girl a good time," she added, a Southern twang entering her voice in an exaggerated fashion.
"Don't I just," Lex laughed. He was enjoying the atmosphere and the freedom from his own personal troubles; he was still having a hard time dealing with his breakup. "There are several regulars in here, each with their own crazy story. Desmond's my favorite though, he may not be much of a talker but he's sure as hell entertaining." Lex hadn't had a chance to bring Vanessa there before she ran off, and now he couldn't really imagine wanting to. It would serve very well as his sanctuary within District X. He had gotten used to coming down here to visit her and he wasn't going to stop just because he didn't have that reason.
Lex took a large swig from his pint and swished it around his mouth before swallowing, "You have to respect any man who can cook without utensils and make his own microbrew. I don't know how he does it, but damn I'm glad I found this place." He sighed and sat back, the pain momentarily lifted from his shoulders.
"Well, thanks for sharing it with me. Reminds me of Brighton a bit, with the weird and wacky being normal." Amanda leaned forward to watch Desmond's "show" a little more closely. "So, you're not immune to electricity? That must make things tricky when you're powering up."
"Yes, more so before my powers returned, but definitely still a danger. I can shield myself most of the time, but in order to control large systems I have to use myself as part of the system. Sometimes too much energy gets built up and the feedback hits me like a freight train. Luckily, I can dissipate most of it before it strikes, but even so it's not fun." He thought about the loss of control for a second and shivered, I do not want to lose my powers again, ever. "Isn't that like magic, in a way. You wield it but are not immune to it?"
"Not other people's magic, no. Magic comes from a lot of different places, so it's just about impossible to be immune to all of it; I might be able to block someone's urban type magic, say, then get knocked on my arse by a Wiccan. The overload... it's more like me when I merge with a really big city, like London or New Delhi - I kind of get overwhelmed by the energy of the place and forget myself," Amanda mused. "You mentioned losing your powers before, but didn't say how that happened?"
"I stood in the middle of a battle with the other X-Men and helped them create an EMP large enough to take out most of the Indian fleet. The taxation on my limited understanding of my powers made them go completely haywire and disappear for a time. I didn't have much control over them for almost 8 months. I've only recently gotten them back." He chuckled, it was strange thinking that a month ago he would have had trouble turning on a toaster without making it explode, and now he could do more than he'd ever been able to before India. "They've come back in full, though, which makes my life just a little easier and more comfortable. It's much easier to lose someone you love when you preoccupy yourself with self-exploration."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. Obviously she'd heard on the grapevine about the breakup with Vanessa, but she hadn't gotten details, having been out of town for a while. At least there hadn't been a repeat of Sam standing on the doorstep of the brownstone screaming about them having 'stolen' his girlfriend. "Yeah, sorry to hear about that," she offered, taking a sip of her pint. "'S funny, my last relationship, with Angelo, it wound up ending for similar sorts of reasons. We were both so busy, we never had time for each other, and in the end, we figured it was better just to split up. We're still mates, tho'."
"That's actually rather amusing, all things considered, as his power may be inadvertently responsible for our breakup. Rather, Vee's fascination with his powers surprised me and I made her angry with my response. It was a little more than ridiculous." His laugh was disheartened and morbid. "Yeah, I think the problem with Vanessa and me was that she had gotten used to me not being there while I tried to fix my powers and then decided that there was no us anymore. The sad thing is that I don't think I understand how I could have, or ever can, change that. So, I'm trying to accept it in the name of her happiness and move on." Fat lot of good that will do, he said with his eyes.
Amanda took a long drink of her pint before answering. Relationship advice wasn't her forte, but she liked Vanessa and she liked Lex. And aparently was an inveterate meddler, just like Romany. "See, the thing with Vee? She's had to do for herself all her life, since her mum tossed her out. Looking out for yourself for so long... it makes it hard to let the guard down. And it makes it easy to write things off if they're not going the way you'd hoped. So you disappearing a bit, I'm guessing she took it personal, and decided it was easier for her in the long run to end it." She shrugged a little. "That's just my guess. We both kind of had similar backgrounds, being used a lot, so maybe I have a better idea of how she reacts." With a smile, she added. "I wouldn't write it off entirely. She and I had a huge fight when Jean-Paul came back, didn't speak for months. But we've managed to patch things up now. So where there's life there's hope, right?"
"I will not hold my breath, though I truly hope that you are right. I want to be with her, but I'm not capable of understanding this situation." Lex paused for a moment, staring deep into his mug. He had to give it to Amanda, she was a good person to hang out with. "I appreciate that you are willing to give me your opinions, as I feel like I am wallowing in my own perception of absolute loss. She was the first person I had truly let in since the military, and the only person I tried to be completely open with since the death of my father." He struggled to remain cheerful, but he had promised himself that he wasn't going to let his pain drown him.
"Never mind that, though. I came here to enjoy your company, not ruminate on my brokenness. Let us drink to happier times to come." He raised his glass and took a large swig. There was plenty of time to be alone and in despair, he would save his troubles for when there was nobody around to bore.
"If you're sober enough to use words like 'ruminate', we're going to need another round," Amanda said, raising her glass to him.
