xp_logs | Amanda and Kevin

Backdated to February 12.

Having found out about the Slenders reappearing, Amanda takes to killing brain cells to cope. And winds up having a heart-to-heart with Kevin. In the hot tub. Because it's Kevin.

Potentially NSFW for explicit sexual references. Because it's Kevin and Amanda.

"Amanda. I think you're missing the dress code." Kevin said, looking up from the hot tub with the adjacent bar. There were at least a dozen people in the hot tub, most of them would not meet his age if combined with each other.

Amanda, dressed in the jeans-and-woolly sweater combo that had become her "uniform" for this trip, took a large swig from the half-full vodka bottle she was carrying and then peered at him owlishly. "I am? Shite."

And with that, she started stripping off her layers.

"You need to put down the vodka bottle too. This is about civilized drinks." He was immediately corrected by a nineteen year old who swigged from a bottle of Jaeger and went back to blowing her boyfriend underwater. "Or, you know, an attempt at it."

The witch screwed up her nose as she untied her boots, one-handed. "But if I put down the bottle, I can't drink out of it," she pointed out, quite reasonably she thought. "And if I can't drink, I have to remember I'm a fucking horrible mentor type person who let their students get..." She blinked, looking at the rest of the occupants of the hot-tub. "Um, something, something, blah, blah. At least tell me these civilized drinks are high proof?"

"They can be. Give me the bottle." Kevin took the bottle, took a reflective swig and then set it aside. "Waiter, can you give us a couple of brandies. And stop looking puzzled at anything other than Jaeger shots."

Amanda snickered as the waiter scurried away and pulled her jeans off, her woolly socks disappearing somewhere into the legs. "Where's Gabe? Did you make him run away screaming with your old man drinks?"

"No, I think Gabe is despoiling a group from the University of Phoenix. They learn online, but they learned lines with Gabe."

"Hah! Nice one." Amanda's reply was smothered by the sweater she was yanking off over her head, and she emerged in a cloud of static. "So, who're your friends? They're all far too pretty for you."

"They are people who have decided to be here. I'm the interloper." He leaned back. "So, you're saying I'm not pretty?"

Amanda paused in the middle of pulling her t-shirt over her head. "Oh, you're plenty pretty," she reassured with the solemnity of the tipsy. "Just not as pretty as me."

"That's fair. You do a very good job hiding those breasts under a suit." Kevin stopped a woman who was easily under nineteen from reaching for the vodka. "Not for you, my dear."

"I have to hide them. They're my secret weapon." Dressed only in her bra and panties, Amanda made her way over to the hot tub and slid in. "Ooh, that feels nice," she sighed. "Where's my bottle gone?"

"I have it. You lost vodka privileges." He paused as the waiter returned with a couple of balloon glasses. "Drink it slowly. Smell it." His hand intercepted a frat boy going for her groin and pushing it back with a stern look.

"Boo." Amanda's protest was short lived as she obediently took the glass and sniffed. "Smells like..." She paused and took a sip. "Ooh, it's like warm honey." She began the tip the glass further, intent on finishing the contents in one gulp.

"I said drink it slowly." Kevin sighed. "You need to learn yo control your drinks."

"But it's good," Amanda protested. "It makes my nose tingle."

"It is about pacing. Do you go straight to the orgasm every time?"

She thought about that one for a long time. "Um, yeah. That's the point, isn't it?"

"Some might say the journey matters." He took her glass away and waved for a refill. "Enjoy the setup. It's worth it."

"Why, Mr. Bond, I do believe you're trying to seduce me," she drawled in her perfect BBC English accent, pouting at the disappearing glass, despite it being empty.

"I could, but that seems a remarkably easy task tonight. If you'd like to spend a night with your choose your own adventure, I'm happy to help. But, I think you don't won't to be one of those women."

Amanda cocked her head at him, considering his words with a sudden sobriety which indicated perhaps she wasn't as drunk as she had first seemed. "You're a very interesting person," she declared at last, revealing she was somewhat drunk, at least. "And I don't actually know that much about you. Apart from what Dom's told me, at least."

"I'm not that interesting. I'm pretty simple, really. I have as much unattached sex as possible. I read a lot of novels that no one remembers. And someone sold me an 'artisanal' Manhattan that moves me to violence. But don't hurt Dom."

Amanda paused in the middle of accepting another brandy. "Hurt Dom?" she repeated. "Fuck, no. She's too fantastic for that."

"Just- don't. She's young. And smarter than you. But just don't." Kevin seemed to huddle into himself a bit, slipping back into the bubbling water.

Ordinarily, Amanda might have bristled at the implication she wasn't smart, but she fully accepted Dom was far smarter she was. And there was a lot more here than perhaps her vodka-soaked brain could absorb, but enough was sinking in. "I didn't realise," she said at last, taking in Kevin's body language. "But don't worry. We're just mates, nothing else."

If there was a slight pang at those words, she was able to keep it from showing on her face.

"No, you're allowed to be whatever you what. Just if you hurt her, I get to fulfill my reputation as a Neanderthal by going after you. Dom is more than capable of choosing her partners. I'm what's called, what, the firewall?"

But it's not all you want to be. Amanda was able to bite those words back before they reached her tongue. "No need to worry about me, Chief. I've been on the receiving end way too often to do the damage." She raised her new brandy glass to him. "Totally harmless, that's me."

"Really? You've been panting after her since I met you. And, based on what I see, she'd be interested."

"Personal's not the same as important." The words came out almost automatically. "If it's going to fuck things up, with the team or otherwise, then I can keep it in my pants and spend another night with the magic bullet."

"Good. Just be honest. I'm not a prude and, frankly, I'd nail you myself, but just treat her right. She deserves it."

"Wouldn't dream of doing otherwise." Amanda sipped at the brandy. "She's pretty damn awesome. If she was up for it, I'd treat her like a queen. But, I have a feeling she's not really looking for that." Mostly because they'd been working together for a year and nothing had actually happened beyond their usual flirty banter. And it didn't help that Amanda remembered another Dom, just as willing to play, but filling an older sister role.

"Good. So, what is it that you are missing?" Kevin shifted as most of the college crowd climbed out to relocate. "If you were an asset, I'd ask who you lost recently."

"It's... hard to talk about." That was definitely not a lie. "But yeah, I lost some people during the whole M-Day thing, and the ones I have left, I want to make sure they don't get hurt. And if that means holding back in some cases..." She shrugged, bubbles spilling over her shoulders with the movement. "Maybe not the best coping method, but with what we do and the high risk of bad things happening, it works for me."

"That's fair. Shockingly honest but fair." Kevin finished off his brandy with a gulp. "I'm learning that I work in a fairly incestuous shop it seems."

"Basically, yeah. But then again, it's not like it's easy to have a meaningful relationship with someone who isn't part of things. Between the mutant thing, the spy thing and the occasionally killing people thing, it's not easy to actually date outside of the team." Amanda sighed. "Believe me, I've tried."

"I can imagine. I've done some reading and it looks like you ladies have done the honey trap on occasion. At the same point, Jubilee is getting married, Marie-Ange, Wade and Doug seem happy. It isn't impossible."

Amanda screwed up her nose. "Jubilee's a twit who is marrying my brother because she hasn't thought about how he's supposed to deal with losing her in the field," she replied, somewhat sourly. "I find it easier to keep my distance and just go for the odd recreational outing."

"Your brother.... so, um, who was adopted?"

"He was." Amanda snickered. "I have one brother by birth and a brother and sister by adoption." It felt so strange, omitting Jimiane, but as she had to keep reminding herself, she was Jimiane in this world. "Kurt and Meggan are both at the mansion. My brother Stephan is back with the clan."

"Ah, you're Gypsies. That makes sense. So is Wanda. Same vardo or just a coincidence?"

"Coincidence follows me around like a puppy, so yeah, total coincidence. Two different German Rom clans with leaders having mutant kids," said the blonde with a wry grin. "I was taken from my family when I was a tot, so I'm more gadjo than anything, at least accordingly to my mother. Wanda was the one who actually hooked me back up with them - I came to the school as a student, with no idea who I was, and it turns out I'm Rom. But shite like that always happens at the mansion." She finished her brandy. "But I'm doing all the talking. How about you? Was your family history as fucked up as mine?"

"Not even close. Poor union family from Chicago. Enlisted early to make things easier for my alcoholic old man. To be honest, compared to most of you, I'm out of Leave It To Beaver. Which I watched. When it aired."

Her eyebrows rose. "How old are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"Twenty-eight, turning twenty-nine." Amanda said after some mental calculation. "Hell's bells."

"Ancient. This is the time that your body starts breaking down. All your cool tattoos get stretchy. You can't quite fit into that leather mini that used to be the cock catcher for the last decade. Now, imagine going through that eight times. That's how old I am."

"Phbbt." It was strangely like talking to Remy, Amanda reflected to herself. "So you're as old as dirt and look years younger. All of the experience with none of the downsides."

"It's actually really sweet. You ever seen someone in the street and you just wanted to know what it was like to be them? I don't. It's ridiculous. I see someone attractive and can be them. It's crazy when I watch old movies. Hmm, what are Jayne Mansfield's tits like? I get to figure it out."

"Showoff." Amanda set her glass on the edge of the hot tub and let herself stretch and relax into the water with a contented noise. "You shapeshifters are all the same."

"You've had a few shapeshifters?" Kevin said, eyebrow cocked. "I admit, it is an awakening. You know that once you've been an elderly black woman, a young Asian male and a crippled Indian man, it is hard to hold a lot of the old prejudices."

"I've know a couple, over the years. Occupational hazard in the spy business," Amanda covered smoothly. "You know, I hadn't thought of it that way, it's actually fucking interesting. A bit like what I do when I merge with different cities. It's hard to view people as a single mass once you've touched their lives on a level like that."

"I agree. You know that when you're a gay Eastern European punk and a couple of Nazi nationalists stomp you, it makes you wonder if the faggots you remember from the Army are that bad. I remember a lot, Amanda. Enough that I'm not proud of any more."

"The downsides of living forever." There was no hint of teasing in the younger woman's voice. "But then again, you don't have to live forever to have things you're ashamed of doing."

"I've read the file. About Rack. I've seen it in too many places. Child warriors. That's what he tried to make you. Just magic instead of an AK. And the fact I could say magic without wincing is growth for me."

"He's part of it. But I've made plenty of bone-headed mistakes on my own." Amanda sank a little deeper into the warm water. "And while I don't begrudge what the job needs, some of it isn't stuff I'd tell my little sister. The honey pot stuff, the assassinations. I do it so someone else doesn't have to, but sometimes that's cold comfort." She seemed to remember something he'd said. "So, not a fan of my unnatural arts?"

"As an intelligence agent, I fucking hate magic. It does whatever it wants for whatever reason. As a member of this shop, I like having it on tap."

Amanda giggled. "Yeah, that tends to be the usual consensus. Magic is creepy because it doesn't stick to the rules. Oh, if only you knew how many rules magic has of its own. Maybe you should stop by one of my classes with the next generation."

"I think it is better if we explain it over drinks. Or jazz. Mostly drinks and jazz."

"That's your answer for everything."

"If it was, you'd be naked already."