Amanda Sefton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xp_daytripper) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
xp_logs2015-09-22 07:49 pm
xp_daytripper) wrote in xp_logs2015-09-22 07:49 pm
Entry tags:
Amanda and Laurie - backdated to September 22
Laurie drops by to chat with Amanda, and they compare recovery notes.
Laurie's fingers drifted across the spines of the books sitting on Amanda's shelf as she waited for her friend to come back with their tea. She'd always wondered what it must be like to live a life where you could be in contact with an entire city as a sentient being, or create something out of nothing with the wave of a wooden staff. Namor had seemed quite distressed by the loss of his city, and the dispersal of its contents.
She'd been curious about such objects, and the first person she'd thought of to talk to had been Amanda - given the witch's experience with such things.
"Here we go, lifeblood of England and all that jazz," announced Amanda, coming back from the kitchenette with two mugs which she set down on the coffee table. She raised an eyebrow at Laurie's browsing. "Yeah, you won't find any light reading there," she said, with a snort. "That's where I keep the magic books."
"Can only magic users read them?" Laurie asked curiously, leaving her cup to sit a moment - she wasn't a fan of scalding her tongue. "I mean, obviously you need power to use them but what about reading them just for knowledge's sake alone?"
"Not really. I meant more they're bloody boring if you don't really know what they're talking about." Amanda shrugged. "I s'pose it'd be like me trying to read your medical books for shits and giggles."
"So, are there simpler texts for beginners?" Laurie asked, stepping away from the books and taking a seat in front of Amanda. "I've got a bit of time on my hands while this heals and reading medical texts without being able to put them to use is painful at the moment."
Laurie had gestured to her injured arm, still in recovery from the surgery she'd had to make it ready for her prosthetic limb. There would be more work to do once the initial graft was healed and they could integrate the technology directly with her central nervous system and musculature. She was cautiously optimistic about current results however.
"I admit, your magical seminars made me curious to learn more."
"Yeah, I've got some stuff I use for my padawans," Amanda said, eyes flicking to the stump of Laurie's arm and away again. "Basic theory, power sources, that sort of thing. Plus my seminar notes and stuff - I can always give you that on a stick, if you're really interested."
"That would be very welcome," Laurie admitted, eyeing Amanda as she reached for her tea. "Now, how have you been?"
"You mean, besides dealing with the fact my old teacher is now a teenaged boy who likes practical jokes?" asked Amanda rhetorically. "Busy. My class tripled in size overnight. But at least the Trenchcoat thing's been quiet-ish." She shrugged. "We seem to be having trouble sorting ourselves out since M-Day." She paused, meaningfully, the deaths of Remy and Ororo and Wanda looming large in her memory. "We're all so scattered, and I don't mean physically."
"It's to be expected," Laurie reminded her gently - she knew Amanda knew this, but she also knew the value in being a good friend and listening without trying to fix. "Has Topaz been in touch?"
"She has to - I wouldn't let her go until she promised a regular check-in so I knew she wasn't in trouble," Amanda replied with a snort to cover the flash of grief. "She seems happier than she was here, at least. I can't imagine how it all was for an empath. Meggan's a lot quieter than she used to be, too. Similar thing, probably."
"You said work was quiet at the moment," Laurie noted, having seen the cover but choosing to let it go. If someone wanted something to not be seen there was usually a good reason for that. "Have you thought of taking a vacation?"
"Can't. Busy school marm, remember?" Amanda replied. "I've got three new students, plus Megan, and while Bas doesn't seem to have any magical talent, Clea and Stephen more than make up for it, so I need to get some basics hammered into their heads before they turn the whole mansion into gingerbread for a Christmas joke."
"Surely a weekend away from the little hellions isn't completely out of the question?" Laurie asked, eyebrows raised. "Perhaps not to begin with but in a month?"
"Believe it or not, I actually like the teaching," Amanda said with a laugh. "Seriously, it gives me something positive to channel stuff into. If I went on holidays, I'd wind up getting bored and twitchy and wind up back here after eight hours." She added, somewhat pointedly. "No need to fuss, Mother Hen. I'm doing all right."
"Sorry," Laurie replied with a wry smile. "I find comfort in the familiar - looking after people is my safe place. I know it's not always welcome, but I am trying not to do it so often. Once my arm is finished, I hope to start my studies again. It will give me an outlet for all this energy that has nowhere to go currently."
"So where are you at with it? I saw something on the journals about surgery recently?" Amanda let the issue pass with grace.
"Medically or emotionally?" Laurie asked, taking another sip of her tea. "We've connected my muscles and nerves to artificial couplings to make the insertion of the bio-mechanical arm possible. From what they're saying I should have full functionality plus a few extras."
"That's the physical. How about the mental?" Amanda asked with an approving nod at the news about the prosthetic.
"Mental is an entirely different kettle of aquatic creatures," Laurie replied with a wry smile.
She sighed, and used the time it took her to take a deep drink of her tea to gather her thoughts and think about what she really wanted to say. It wasn't just the whole new world deal - albeit the torture she'd gone through had seemingly carried over into this one - it was the build up of years of only allowing herself a moment to think of anything before she moved onto the next crisis. Despite extensive therapy throughout her life at the mansion, she'd never really allowed much to touch her.
It had been easier to simply bury the past and move onto the next crisis that needed her attention. Her injury had allowed her the time to slow down and take stock, and to finally start really thinking and dealing with everything. To say that the resultant collapses had not been pretty was an understatement. She was glad to have Doug, Marie-Ange and Wade - they made letting go that much easier when she knew there were people to catch her fall.
"I am, as you know, a rather insular person at the best of times and my first inclination when confronted with trauma is to suppress, but the time allowed me from my injury has given me a lot of time to brood. It's difficult to know where to start, to be honest."
"Good," was Amanda's perhaps surprising answer. "Not having the answers is actually a good sign, for you. Means you're actually thinking about it instead of using everything else as a distraction." Amanda chuckled a little - she knew Laurie far too well. "But distractions are good as well. Let me find a USB and I'll copy that magic stuff you wanted, yeah?"
"That would be excellent," Laurie replied with a smile - unphased by Amanda's answer - it was the truth for one thing, and for another she agreed entirely. "Maybe also some more tea?"
Laurie's fingers drifted across the spines of the books sitting on Amanda's shelf as she waited for her friend to come back with their tea. She'd always wondered what it must be like to live a life where you could be in contact with an entire city as a sentient being, or create something out of nothing with the wave of a wooden staff. Namor had seemed quite distressed by the loss of his city, and the dispersal of its contents.
She'd been curious about such objects, and the first person she'd thought of to talk to had been Amanda - given the witch's experience with such things.
"Here we go, lifeblood of England and all that jazz," announced Amanda, coming back from the kitchenette with two mugs which she set down on the coffee table. She raised an eyebrow at Laurie's browsing. "Yeah, you won't find any light reading there," she said, with a snort. "That's where I keep the magic books."
"Can only magic users read them?" Laurie asked curiously, leaving her cup to sit a moment - she wasn't a fan of scalding her tongue. "I mean, obviously you need power to use them but what about reading them just for knowledge's sake alone?"
"Not really. I meant more they're bloody boring if you don't really know what they're talking about." Amanda shrugged. "I s'pose it'd be like me trying to read your medical books for shits and giggles."
"So, are there simpler texts for beginners?" Laurie asked, stepping away from the books and taking a seat in front of Amanda. "I've got a bit of time on my hands while this heals and reading medical texts without being able to put them to use is painful at the moment."
Laurie had gestured to her injured arm, still in recovery from the surgery she'd had to make it ready for her prosthetic limb. There would be more work to do once the initial graft was healed and they could integrate the technology directly with her central nervous system and musculature. She was cautiously optimistic about current results however.
"I admit, your magical seminars made me curious to learn more."
"Yeah, I've got some stuff I use for my padawans," Amanda said, eyes flicking to the stump of Laurie's arm and away again. "Basic theory, power sources, that sort of thing. Plus my seminar notes and stuff - I can always give you that on a stick, if you're really interested."
"That would be very welcome," Laurie admitted, eyeing Amanda as she reached for her tea. "Now, how have you been?"
"You mean, besides dealing with the fact my old teacher is now a teenaged boy who likes practical jokes?" asked Amanda rhetorically. "Busy. My class tripled in size overnight. But at least the Trenchcoat thing's been quiet-ish." She shrugged. "We seem to be having trouble sorting ourselves out since M-Day." She paused, meaningfully, the deaths of Remy and Ororo and Wanda looming large in her memory. "We're all so scattered, and I don't mean physically."
"It's to be expected," Laurie reminded her gently - she knew Amanda knew this, but she also knew the value in being a good friend and listening without trying to fix. "Has Topaz been in touch?"
"She has to - I wouldn't let her go until she promised a regular check-in so I knew she wasn't in trouble," Amanda replied with a snort to cover the flash of grief. "She seems happier than she was here, at least. I can't imagine how it all was for an empath. Meggan's a lot quieter than she used to be, too. Similar thing, probably."
"You said work was quiet at the moment," Laurie noted, having seen the cover but choosing to let it go. If someone wanted something to not be seen there was usually a good reason for that. "Have you thought of taking a vacation?"
"Can't. Busy school marm, remember?" Amanda replied. "I've got three new students, plus Megan, and while Bas doesn't seem to have any magical talent, Clea and Stephen more than make up for it, so I need to get some basics hammered into their heads before they turn the whole mansion into gingerbread for a Christmas joke."
"Surely a weekend away from the little hellions isn't completely out of the question?" Laurie asked, eyebrows raised. "Perhaps not to begin with but in a month?"
"Believe it or not, I actually like the teaching," Amanda said with a laugh. "Seriously, it gives me something positive to channel stuff into. If I went on holidays, I'd wind up getting bored and twitchy and wind up back here after eight hours." She added, somewhat pointedly. "No need to fuss, Mother Hen. I'm doing all right."
"Sorry," Laurie replied with a wry smile. "I find comfort in the familiar - looking after people is my safe place. I know it's not always welcome, but I am trying not to do it so often. Once my arm is finished, I hope to start my studies again. It will give me an outlet for all this energy that has nowhere to go currently."
"So where are you at with it? I saw something on the journals about surgery recently?" Amanda let the issue pass with grace.
"Medically or emotionally?" Laurie asked, taking another sip of her tea. "We've connected my muscles and nerves to artificial couplings to make the insertion of the bio-mechanical arm possible. From what they're saying I should have full functionality plus a few extras."
"That's the physical. How about the mental?" Amanda asked with an approving nod at the news about the prosthetic.
"Mental is an entirely different kettle of aquatic creatures," Laurie replied with a wry smile.
She sighed, and used the time it took her to take a deep drink of her tea to gather her thoughts and think about what she really wanted to say. It wasn't just the whole new world deal - albeit the torture she'd gone through had seemingly carried over into this one - it was the build up of years of only allowing herself a moment to think of anything before she moved onto the next crisis. Despite extensive therapy throughout her life at the mansion, she'd never really allowed much to touch her.
It had been easier to simply bury the past and move onto the next crisis that needed her attention. Her injury had allowed her the time to slow down and take stock, and to finally start really thinking and dealing with everything. To say that the resultant collapses had not been pretty was an understatement. She was glad to have Doug, Marie-Ange and Wade - they made letting go that much easier when she knew there were people to catch her fall.
"I am, as you know, a rather insular person at the best of times and my first inclination when confronted with trauma is to suppress, but the time allowed me from my injury has given me a lot of time to brood. It's difficult to know where to start, to be honest."
"Good," was Amanda's perhaps surprising answer. "Not having the answers is actually a good sign, for you. Means you're actually thinking about it instead of using everything else as a distraction." Amanda chuckled a little - she knew Laurie far too well. "But distractions are good as well. Let me find a USB and I'll copy that magic stuff you wanted, yeah?"
"That would be excellent," Laurie replied with a smile - unphased by Amanda's answer - it was the truth for one thing, and for another she agreed entirely. "Maybe also some more tea?"