xp_logs | Topaz and Amanda || Checking In (Backdated)

Topaz checks in with Amanda. Backdated to Saturday.

Topaz had stopped in the library, was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of it had already been cleaned up, and had been informed Amanda had taken the staff to her suite to check it out.

So that was where Topaz headed, after stopping in her suite to pet Midnight and grab her bottle of aspirin. The headache was starting to set in.

"Amanda?" She called as she peeked around the door, into Amanda's suite.

"'S open," came the absent-sounding reply - obviously Amanda was deep into "study mode". But as Topaz came in, the witch looked up from where she was on the couch, the piece of staff now in a ziploc bag on the coffee table in front of her, along with the box. "Hey, kiddo. How're you feeling? Want some tea?"

"I never say no to tea, you know that." Topaz let herself in completely, giving the staff a wary gaze. It was warranted, she thought, even if it was in a bag and impossible to directly touch (the idea of fighting a rage-filled Amanda scared her way more than going another ten rounds with Matt and Clint). "Figured out anything about that yet?"

Amanda placed the staff piece, still in the bag, back in its box and closed it. "Not much," she admitted. "It's Asgardian, that much I know, and the magic is dormant until it comes into contact with warm skin - that's how it got past the wards, they didn't detect anything until the magic woke up. I'll have to get Doug and maybe the Asgardian crew to take a look at the runes - they're beyond me." With that, she got up, stripping off a pair of finely-knit chain mail gloves and laying them on the table. "Magic proof," she elaborated at Topaz' glance towards them. "Got 'em off magic eBay."

"Thought it was weird you weren't already in the library slapping all of us." Topaz sighed as she sat, still eyeing the box. "I fucked up today." She could admit it. She hadn't taken the stupid staff nearly seriously enough for how much chaos it had ended up causing.

"Well, yeah, you did a bit. But at least you knew enough not to touch it," Amanda replied as she moved to the kitchenette to put the kettle on. "I swear, I'm going to laminate Clint's hands."

"Did you check on him by any chance? I swear I didn't mean to toss him out the window." Topaz popped the lid off the pill bottle to take a couple more - the first ones weren't kicking in yet. Typical. "And yeah, I draw the line of my stupidity at actually touching the mysterious artifacts. Learned from the best, me."

"Maybe later, once the docs are done with him." Amanda pulled out a couple of mugs, setting them on the counter with a small thud as she used perhaps a little more energy than needed. If she saw Clint now, she'd probably smack him. "How about you? Get all that anger out?"

Topaz raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah. Magically-induced emotions are weird, remind me not to absorb those again. What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Oops. "Just a bit frustrated with the 'touching the thing' club. I don't like it when you get hurt."

Topaz snorted. "I've done worse to myself than the touching the thing club ever could. Besides, did you see Everett? He took the Complete Works of William Shakespeare to the face. Actually, I'm the only one who walked out of there without any bruises or broken bones."

"This time." It was a low mutter as the kettle boiled, Amanda busied herself with tea-making. "Don't mind me. Like I said, just cranky about the whole thing," she continued, louder. "And I get protective of you lot. All that effort teaching you and all." She grinned at the last.

"That's why you gotta cut them some slack though," Topaz pointed out, smirking. "They didn't have an amazing teacher. Hell, two of them had the government teaching them, the learning curve is steep."

Carrying the mugs, Amanda came back to the couch. "Flattery will get you everywhere, kiddo," she replied, handing one to Topaz. "Just make sure you get it through their thick heads that touching is bad, yeah?"

"Ta." Topaz grinned, taking the mug. "And I'll do my best, but I'm pretty sure it's always going to be a matter of no one listens to me until it's too late. I don't exactly have the most impressive history of being a reliable source."

"More fool them." Amanda settled herself back onto her spot on the couch. "Well, yeah, you've had a habit of doing dumb stuff without talking to people, but that was when you were a kid. I like to think you've gotten some sense since then." She grinned. "I haven't had to rescue you for at least year."

"That has got to be a new record," Topaz said, amused, sipping her tea. "An entire year without you bailing me out of anything? Practically a miracle."

"Or, you know, you being more reliable than you give yourself credit for," Amanda pointed out.

"Probably one of the two." Topaz's tone made it clear which one of them she thought was right, but she turned her attention back to the staff as she spoke. "Looks perfectly safe now, doesn't it?"

"Hmm." Amanda frowned down at the open box. "I'll be glad when Clint hands it off - the last thing we need is someone else turning all rage-y."

"At least it was just the two with harmless mutations," Topaz said dryly. "And not someone who could've lit the entire library on fire."

"This time," was Amanda's equally dry reply.