xp_logs | Angelo and Amanda, backdated

Amanda comes to visit and make sure Angelo's taking care of himself as well as Jean-Phillipe

Jean-Phillipe was sleeping when the knock came at the door, as Angelo was putting another pot of slow stew on to cook.

He switched the oven on and went to see who was there.

It was Amanda, carrying a teapot wrapped in a dishtowel. From the steam rising from the spout, it appeared to be full. "Hi," she said with a smile. "I brought tea."

"Lots of tea", he said cheerfully, reaching in an offer to take it. "Come on in."

She surrendered the teapot and followed him inside. "I figured you could do with a nosy friend checking up on you," she said. "How's Jean-Phillipe?"

"You know me too well", he said with a quick rueful smile. "But you're always welcome anyway... he's on the mend, I think. Just needs to get his reserves back up."

Amanda headed into the kitchenette for mugs, bringing back two and setting them down on the coffee table. "'S the problem with energy projectors overdoing it - they spend the next couple of weeks eating everything in sight."

Angelo nodded. "And when they burn really low, they don't even have the energy to do that without somebody else holding the spoon so the food doesn't spill. Angie brought him some dieters' milkshakes, that helped."

"The high-protein ones? Yeah, we tend to keep a supply on hand for Jubes when we're on a mission. Those and those gel pack things athletes use for blood sugar crashes. Chocolate milk is good too - nice combo of protein and carbs that goes down easy." Amanda grinned wryly. "I might know a bit about this stuff, what with the magic class and all. If they run out of juice, food keeps them on their feet until we get to a power source."

"Yeah, I'm learning about it pretty fast. I'd never seen him this drained before." Behind his returned wry grin was the fear memory of seeing Jean-Phillipe so close to death from sheer exhaustion, and the last remnants of fading worry now that he was sure he'd be well again.

Amanda read that fear and relief behind his grin and reached over to squeeze his hand encouragingly. "He's in good hands and I'm sure he'll be up and about in no time," she said softly. "And how about you? Have you been taking care of yourself? Eating, sleeping, all that basic necessity stuff?"

Angelo nodded reassuringly, squeezing her hand back. "He's been napping a lot, building himself up again, so I've pretty much slept when he does. And been making enough food for both of us." (Which meant a lot, in the circumstances.)

"Good. 'Cause I'd hate to have to be the bad guy and force feed you," she replied with a laugh. "Look at us, all grown up and responsible."

His grin brightened. "Yeah, we've come a long way. And both made it to thirty - or nearly, anyway - isn't that scary?"

"Bloody terrifying," she agreed. "Especially since there were certainly days where folks thought neither of us would make it past high school. And now I'm a sodding role model for young magic users."

He drank a swallow of his tea. "And we were among those folks... how are your new flock doing, by the way?"

"Pretty good. I'm not sure if they've forgiven me for the whole shrinking them down thing, but they're good kids. Stable, for the most part, and they definitely have the baggage we did." Amanda looked down at the mug in her hands. "It's hard, trying to live up to the trust they put in me. I feel like I'm a total fraud sometimes."

"Accidents happen, I bet they know that more than you think they do." He squeezed her shoulder. "You're not a fraud. You know all the pitfalls too well for that."

"Topaz found out. About the magic addiction." Amanda blew out a long breath. "I told her to drain me empathically to power up on a mission, and she found me in the middle of withdrawals."

Angelo winced.

"Well, if it had to be anyone... at least Topaz's known you longest of all of them."

"She's the only one of my kids that made it through the end of the world," she replied sadly. "And she seems to be dealing with it - she's not exactly open about her feelings - but I can't help feeling I disappointed her. Not that getting hooked was MY fault, but I thought by now it wouldn't have such a handle on me."

"You kind of - didn't notice it so much anymore?" he guessed quietly. "But then when Topaz took your emotions, and they all came rushing back after..."

She sipped her tea and nodded. "After Xorn did his thing, everyone was so messed up and desperately trying to hold it together. I tried to be the strong one, to be something people could rely on. And I got so good at pretending I was okay I almost completely fooled myself. I spent so much time focussing on helping everyone else... I guess a shrink would call it transference - trying to make up for all the trouble I caused by being what others had been to me."

"I know that feeling." He wrapped his hands around his own mug. "I mean, I tried, but... we lost Frank, and I don't even know where to start with Maya."

Amanda snorted very slightly. "Maya has a lot of anger and wants to beat the world into submission," she said wryly. "Which makes it even harder to connect with her - she pushes everyone away. I don't envy Wade."

"And she's always trying to push the boundaries, to find the thing that'll get her kicked out and prove she was right all along. Reminds me of someone", he said with a fleeting wry smile. "But it sure doesn't make it easy."

"A couple of someones. At least she can't magically roofie the entire place." Amanda reflected with another snort.

"You're not the only one who accidentally did that", he reminded her. "Just the only one with magic. Poor Laurie."

"She only made everyone horny. I messed with people's emotions," she reminded him. "But yeah, both incidents were a total cock-up."

He squeezed her shoulder and took another sip of tea.

"Still, to go back a bit... just look at us now."

She raised her mug and tapped it gently against his. "To proving the odds wrong."

"To proving the odds wrong. And being mostly happy."

He hoped she was, anyway, as he drank to the toast.