xp_logs | Megan and Amanda: After-class Discussion

Megan meets with her teacher, Amanda Sefton, after magic class and asks her to test her dust.

Megan lingered in the ballroom after her three classmates in Amanda
Sefton's magic class left. Through the tall windows, she could see the trees
on campus starting to change color. Change was definitely in the air. She
pulled her sweater more tightly around herself and turned her attention back
to her teacher.

"Ms. A?"

Amanda paused in shoving books into her bag. "What's up, Megan?" she
asked, picking up on the concern in her student's body language.

"I visited the boat house for the first time since - you know. At first it
was crazy tense. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my friend there.
Now I think I can go back, maybe not alone, but it's almost a normal place
again." Satisfaction crept into her voice, but her face still looked drawn
with doubt.

The older witch beamed. "Well, go you with the whole progress thing.
Brilliant job!" She left the books and turned to look at Megan more fully.
"Buuuut, you're still not looking 100% happy 'bout things? You want to talk
about it?"

"Thanks! Yeah, actually, I was wondering..." the student said as she
fidgeted with the strap on her book bag. "Is there a way for you to test my
dust for magical influence? I already had Dr. Grey test it and the lab work
didn't show any chemical changes. But, something still doesn't feel right. I
don't know what it is. I feel normal enough now, that I remember what normal
felt like, and this isn't it."

"Ah." Amanda recalled Megan had mentioned getting Jean to check her out
physically. She considered the question for a moment, frowning a little in
thought. "Well, I can certainly understand the concern, and I'm happy to
help..." She began, trying to think of a way to test Megan's dust. Then the
obvious hit her. "Actually, it's pretty simple, but I'll need you to dust
me."

"Dust you, Ms. A? That seems a little strange but, of course. Just um, tell
me when." Megan gave her head a little shake. I'm going to get my teacher
high. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done such a thing, though. She
set down her book bag, remembering a time when she'd been in a certain
professor's office taking a make-up exam and he'd ended up hanging from the
ceiling. That had been a complete accident brought on by her nerves, though.

"Part of my mutation lets me pick up magical energy," Amanda explained. "I
can't absorb the energy like I used to, but I can usually get a feel for if
something's magically influenced, and if it's light or dark magic." Megan
was still looking at her dubiously, so she added: "It can't be any worse
than the time I got high off Delhi, pixie-girl. Go ahead and hit me."

Megan slowly summoned her dust to the surface of her skin and wings, feeling
her skin grow warm. Her pace began to quicken.The warmth concentrated in a
spot between her shoulder blades and seemed to radiate out from there. This
was normal, but she also felt her gut clench up. It was hard to let go. She
finally - gently - fluttered her wings, pushing the faintly milky white
dust away from her and towards Amanda, careful not to breathe in any
herself.

Amanda held her breath, letting a thin layer of dust settle on her clothes
and hair and skin, and then summoned her shielding spell to avoid getting
any more of it on her. The dust coated the outside of the bubble, swirling
in various patterns on the surface. Inside, Amanda closed her eyes and
focussed on the dust covering her, looking at it with her magical senses in
the short amount of time she had before she had to take a breath.

Megan watched the dust swirl on the shield like patterns in a soap bubble.
It seemed to move with a kind of energy, like friction or static. Somehow it
made her a little uncomfortable. It seemed to react to her discomfort,
clouding slightly. But this was just the extra stuff - it wouldn't get past
the shield spell.

Amanda gently exhaled and then carefully breathed in, trying not to sneeze
as the dust tickled her nose. "Okay, while I'm still making sense," she
said, clapping her hands to cancel her shielding spell and avoid hothousing
herself on the dust. "No magic, good or bad in this stuff." She giggled a
little. "Even with the pink flying unicorns. Can you see them?"

Megan smiled and shook her head 'no'. "No magic. Then, what's wrong is
- me, isn't it?" She sighed. "My emotions are a mess. But I'm trying
so hard for everything to be normal." She smiled again as she watched
her teacher temporarily captivated by images only she could see.

"This dust of yours packs a punch, that's for sure. I'm fucking glad you
weren't at school with me, or I'd be shaking you down for a dusting every
day." Amanda wasn't entirely aware of how much she was giving away about her
history, but she knew she had better stop breathing the stuff. "Right,
before we get any further with the this, do me a solid and I'll open the
window and you fan this stuff out?" Unsteadily she moved towards the window,
but missed her footing and landed with a bump on her butt. "Ow. Apparently
asparagus doesn't make very good legs for walking on."

"Are you OK? Ah, I'll get the window," said Megan. She didn't want to
re-dose Amanda by touching her - even though the dust was already
disappearing from her skin and wings. She took longer than absolutely
necessary to get to said window, however. "Were you a bit of a rebel
when you were in school, then?" Nico had been Megan's only roommate
who'd even suggested playing around with the dust powers. "Not that
there's anything wrong with exploring your own powers, right?"

"I was a baaaaaad girl in school," Amanda sing-songed from the floor. But
once the window was opened, her head started clearing a bit. She stayed on
the floor for now, since she wasn't sure just how steady she was. "Woah,
talk about a headrush there, Candy Floss. Not quite as bad as Delhi, but you
pack a punch. A very glittery, unicorns and rainbows sort of punch. Is it
always this... shiny?”

"Pretty much. I usually see waterfalls streaming everywhere, even from
people's eyes. Shiny patterns, usually with little stars
and skulls. Sometimes dragons with wings like mine. Ah, well, you've seen my
paintings." Then again, maybe she'd never shown Amanda her artwork. "Who's
Delhi?" She asked as she began fanning a breeze in from the window.

Amanda sat up a bit straighter, fanning her face. "Delhi is a what, not a
who - New Delhi, big city in India. I did my powers thing with it a few
years ago, kind of had a high for a few days. It's a thing." A few more deep
breaths of the cool air coming in the window and she could think more
clearly, although she could feel a tingling in her nerves still. "Right. I'm
good. Let's get back to you. Help me up?" She waved a hand limply in Megan's
direction.

Megan wiped her hands off on her jeans - which were beautifully ripped
by her own design - just in case of any lingering dust, and returned
from the window. She offered both arms to her teacher and pulled her
up off the floor. Amanda was only slightly taller than Megan - but she
was surprisingly strong. It felt kind of odd to be helping someone so
powerful.

"Oopsy daisy."

"Oof." Amanda clung to Megan's arms for a bit as the room spun a bit, then
stabilised. "Mental note, think these things through a bit more before I
suggest 'em," she said wryly. "I think I could have worked that out a bit
better." She tottered to the window and propped herself against the open
sill, ignoring the chill for now. "Well, like I think I said, there's no
magical trace in your dust. It's all 100 per cent mutant goodness."

"All mutant, all Megan," the younger woman noted with relief. "Although, I
have to continue to get used to the other Megan, too. When I use magic, it's
like a different part of my brain switches on. It's difficult to flow
between," she added, frowning slightly.

Amanda cocked one eyebrow at her, curious. "Well, it is still pretty new to
you, Candy Floss," she replied. "And it's not like you were born to it - 's
gunna take some time to get used to."

Megan nodded. "It's an adjustment, that's for sure. It's hard to sleep
sometimes. But I think I'll sleep a little better, not worrying about the
magic twisting me." Hopefully.

The older witch considered her for a moment. "This problem you're having
with your dust... is your control tied up with your emotional state at all?
Even before Belasco, did you notice that you had trouble holding it in if
you were upset or angry or something?"

Megan scratched her pink hair. "Well, before I had powers training from
Laurie, yes. My control of my dust could slip if I was really stressed or
scared. But I haven't had that trouble for years - except maybe a little
after fighting D'Spayre."

"I was really surprised at how easily my magic responded. It was like it
really wanted to be freed. I was resisting, maybe, and it was flowing the
opposite way. I don't know if auras are real, but my immediate sense of self
and my own presence around me felt like it was drawn with the magic," she
added after a moment.

"Hmm." Amanda chewed on her thumbnail. "I might be wrong, but I think your
powers issues might be tied up with your whole psychological state," she
said at last. "And your resistance to the magic is making that worse. You're
blocking yourself magically - like you said, you were resisting it - and
it's messing with your powers control too."

"I guess that makes sense." She tucked the dark streak of hair behind
her ear, letting the rest mostly cover it.

"We'll keep working at it," Amanda promised. "But in the meantime, I'm
taking you out for something to eat. All work and no play makes for a cranky
magic teacher. And student."