LOG: Amara and Terry

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Terry needs a place to crash away from the mansion, and Amara is able to provide. The two chat over coffee and catch up. Topics of conversation include college, Bishop, Terry's work. Topics not discussed: why Terry isn't staying at the mansion with her husband.

It was early enough in the day that the possibility of not being home was quite distinct when Terry showed up on the doorstep of Amara's building and rang the buzzer. Please be in. Please, please, please, she begged silently, resting her forehead on the nearest bit of masonry. A large duffle bag was settled at her feet, containing the contents of her life. At least the contents she brought with her, plus a few things picked up on shopping trips, the go-to-mood-improver. Long hair hung in gentle curls to cover her face, but hopefully the color is enough to identify her.

Amara, admittedly, kept something of an erratic schedule between college, Elpis and HeliX. She technically should have been at a Spanish conversation class this morning, but had skipped in favor of sleeping in and finishing an assignment.

And really, she got more use out of chatting to Angelo in Spanish than she did out of the class.

She answered the door still in her PJs with a bathrobe thrown over the top, a smile appearing in her face when she saw Terry.

"Terry! Please come in." She paused a moment, properly looking at the Irishwoman. "Is everything okay?"

Terry winced at the sight, then gave Amara a sheepish look and raked her fingers into her hairline to pull it back from her forehead. "Sorry, 'mara. Did I wake y' up?" She kicked her bag into the doorway, but did not push in any further. Straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, she announced on the cusp of a deep breath that, "I have come to crash your couch. Just for a few days, hopefully. The drive from the mansion was getting to be wearing." Not to mention other things.

"Not at all," Amara said with a smile, beckoning Terry further into the apartment. It was a small place, but clean and cozy and decorated with bits and pieces the girls had gathered from around the place. Items that they liked and meant something, rather than just soulless pretty things, and there was a fairly strong South American theme going through it.

"I have been lazy about getting myself going today. I've been awake for awhile." And Terry's appearance meant a distraction from her studies, which she was okay with. "Our couch is always open. The trip from the mansion is very long, I know." She paused in the living room, just near the kitchen door.

"Would you like something to drink? I was about to prepare some coffee for myself if you would like some."

"Coffee would be a blessing, to be sure," Terry said, finally bending over to swing the bag up long enough to carry it inside. "How've ye been?" she asked, dropping her load again. She ran her hands up into her hair and pulled it into a ponytail, wrapping it with a holder apparently stored on her wrist for that purpose. She looked around the room, noting the personal items and care the room presented. "I will not be underfoot long. I am hoping to find a place closer in." Though finding an affordable place in the City was easier said than done.

"I'm good," Amara smiled. "But busy. Classes keep me very busy, and I have started work on my honors thesis, which makes things even more busy. And then I have my hours at Elpis and work I do with HeliX."

She started moving around the kitchen, putting together what she would need to make them both coffee.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you need," Amara replied. "I remember when Callie and I were apartment shopping, it took awhile to find something." She glanced over to Terry. "You should take a look around here. The rent is more reasonable in District X than other places, and there are a few of us from Xavier's around here. Angelo and John don't live too far away, and Catseye has just moved into the area. Jean-Paul lives somewhere as well, and of course Vanessa and Bishop have their detective agency." Amara was pretty sure she'd remembered everyone who was scattered around the place.

"Seems to be the common refrain," Terry replied wryly, following Amara toward the kitchen area. "We could not wait to be growing up to get to do things, and now have no time to be enjoying them." She leaned against a convenient bit of countertop and watched the preparation, observing where things were so she could do this in the future. "Bishop? He the tall bloke I met out at the mansion? Looks solid as a brick house?"

"Most likely," Amara said with a smile. "He is ludicrously tall and quite handsome. Has a slight tendency towards stoicism at times." Flicking the kettle on, she paused in her preparations, leaning against the bench as she waited for the hot water.

"He used to work for Snow Valley before he and Vanessa opened X-Factor. And NYPD before that, I believe."

"Stoicism? He plays hearts. How stoic can that be?" Terry laughed, green eyes alive with humor.

"He has hidden depths," Amara replied solemnly, before grinning back. "He took me pooling once. It was an experience."

"An experience, is it?" Terry pursed her lips and widened her eyes, fluttering her lashes a moment before she sank back into a grin. "Well, seemed a good enough sort. What's the thesis about?" she shifted gears suddenly.

"He looks very nice without a shirt," Amara replied with only a slight darkening of her cheeks.

"I'm looking at some of the subcultures of mutants that have developed, focusing here in District X. There's not a lot of academic research into it as yet, so it's been difficult so far."

Terry sucked her cheeks in and deigned not to pursue that line of conversation further. For the moment at least. At least beyond drawling, "I am sure." She glanced around the small kitchen again, then back to Amara. "First responder of academia, aye?"

"Something like that," Amara said wryly. The kettle finished boiling, and she moved to finish her preparations. "My advisor keeps advising me to tackle something easier, and sometimes it's tempting, especially when I have so much on my plate with HeliX." She shrugged. "I don't really like taking the easy route."

Terry snorted, then slanted a smile at her friend. "Aye. If you did, you would not be you. Even if you wanted to, tis not often an option for us." She slipped into the small kitchen and started opening cabinets to look for mugs. Finding them, she pulled two down and set them on the counter.

"Yes, it is true. Things do not go particularly easy for us, do they?" Amara smiled ruefully, then started pouring the coffee for them both.

"But that is enough about me. How is work going? You are working with the FBI now, yes?"

"Aye," Terry answered, hooking her finger through the handle of one of the mugs. "On assignment to them whilst I coordinate an investigation. Keep getting pulled off into other things though." She paused and glanced down, hesitation clear. "Not that I am minding. Was hoping to be able to spend more time here..." The married X-Man most obviously not living with her husband twitched in place and fidgeted.

"It sounds interesting," Amara said, perfectly serious, taking a sip from your coffee. "Are you enjoying being back in the States?" She was curious as to why Terry wanted to stay here rather than be at the mansion with her husband, but... she also didn't want to pry at all.

Terry did not answer immediately. She twisted the mug around on the counter, then narrowed her eyes and looked over at Amara. "Tis more home than most places," she answered, sort of, then straightened up and picked the mug to sip from it. "But I did not show up to keep underfoot. Do not let me be keeping you from whatever it is you are having to do."

It wasn't much of an answer, and Amara wasn't sure if she should push or not. In the end she decided not to, simply just smiling at the redhead.

"I've found that's true as well," she replied. "And I don't mind the break. Come on, I'll give you a tour and show you where you'll be sleeping."

Terry grinned back and pushed away from the counter to fall in behind Amara and say cheerily, "Lead on!"