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xp_logsIn the aftermath of Quentin's death, Stephen comes to his teacher with a request.
The tramping of feet on the floor echoed around the corridor as Stephen paced back and forward outside the door. It was such a simple thing, a wooden portal that he'd walked through countless times. And yet, today it felt like the entrance to a fortress, a portal that seemed to loom before him in its menacing silence. "Nothing ventured..." The teen took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and stepping forward, a raised hand falling down on the door a thump that filled the silence of the corridor.
Inside the suite she shared with Marie-Ange, Amanda looked up from the book she was reading at the knock. She was alone, so there was music, a retrospective of John Peel favourites, and a cup of tea steamed on the coffee table in front of her. The book was, unsurprisingly, something large and leather-bound and leaning towards the 'tome' side of things. "Come in, door's open!" she called, unwilling to uncurl herself from the armchair just yet.
Stephen bit his lip as he pushed open the door, the wooden portal creaking open as he peeked his tousel-haired head through the door frame as he looked around for the teacher. "Uhh, Hi Amanda," he glanced around, nervous now that he was finally in here. "Umm...so I had a question...request...thing to ask."
"Come on in and tell me about it," Amanda replied, setting the book aside and waving at the couch. As Stephen came in properly, she got up and turned the music off. "You want a cuppa?"
The first traces of a smile touched Stephen's lips as he nodded, slipping into the room and settling himself on the edge of the couch, "I'm never gonna say no to a taste of home."
Amanda set about the task of pouring Stephen a cup of tea from the teapot sitting on the kitchenette counter and handed it to him before settling down in her chair again. "What's up? You have serious face. Please don't tell me you did something and it backfired and now it's snowing inside or raining potatoes or something."
The teenager tilted his head to the side, a thoughtful look in his eyes as he considered that, "Hmmm, you know that'd be a pretty cool way to make sure we had a white Christmas," he allowed. "No it's nothing like that it's just..." his voice trailed off as he stared down at his hands in his lap clenching and unclenching them into fists.
"Snow inside means lots of clean up..." Amanda began, but paused. Stephen was... upset? Uncomfortable, at the very least. That was pretty unusual in the prankster. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. I won't yell at you until after things are fixed, promise," she said, an expression of concern entering her face and voice.
"I..." Stephen glanced down at his hands clenching and unclenching them for a moment as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. The moment stretched out before he shook his head and looked up at Amanda, "I didn't do anything, break anything yet but...this last month...with everything that happened. I...I felt so useless. When that thing took over Quentin, Ms Maximoff had to protect me, rush us out of the room so we wouldn't get in the way." The teenager turned a pained gaze on Amanda as he clenched his hand into tight fists. "I...I don't want to be the one being protected. I want to be able to protect you all, the people I care about."
"You weren't useless, Stephen. I couldn't have done that ritual without you," Amanda replied. But before he could say anything in response, she added: "But I totally get you. I was the same, back when I was your age. Stuff happened, I couldn't stop any of it, and most of the time it felt like people had to save my arse and put themselves in danger doing it. What do you want to do about it?"
He offered her a small smile, leaning back on the couch as he stared down at the cup of hot liquid clasped in his hands. "I know you're not really a big fan of fighting, or of us using magic that way but...bad things keep happening and I want to be able to help. I was wondering, hoping you could teach me to use my magic to fight people like you do."
"I'm not a big fan of you lot thinking that you have to fight other people's battles," Amanda corrected gently. "But defending yourself and those around you? I understand that. And sometimes hiding behind a shielding spell isn't enough." She leaned back, considering her student. "I can teach you a few things. But there's more to it than just the magic - you need to be able to do things the mundane way as well. I know you have self-defence with the Gen X training, but I'd like to suggest you do some extra - maybe with Dom and Doug. They both have non-offensive powers and have had to compensate for that, and they've been trained well. I think you could learn a lot from them."
"You'd be ok with it?" The teenager leant forward, a spark of surprise, of almost satisfaction dancing in his eyes. "I'll do it...wait what you mean..." Stephen's face fell as he gave Amanda a brave smile, "That's gonna be more physical training isn't it?"
"Like I said, I've been exactly where you are, and it would be hypocritical of me to tell you 'no'," Amanda replied, grinning at his reaction to her second suggestion. "Only fair that I pass on exactly what I got, isn't it?"
The teenager narrowed his eyes, almost glaring at his teacher, "This is a really twisted form of 'I wish you have students like yourself isn't it'" he accused almost playfully. "You know I thought the whole idea was you were supposed to make things better for the next generation, not make them suffer cause you did. Now if I ever have a student I'm gonna have to make them carry buckets of water up a hill or something too."
"Now you're learning," Amanda replied with a laugh.
The tramping of feet on the floor echoed around the corridor as Stephen paced back and forward outside the door. It was such a simple thing, a wooden portal that he'd walked through countless times. And yet, today it felt like the entrance to a fortress, a portal that seemed to loom before him in its menacing silence. "Nothing ventured..." The teen took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and stepping forward, a raised hand falling down on the door a thump that filled the silence of the corridor.
Inside the suite she shared with Marie-Ange, Amanda looked up from the book she was reading at the knock. She was alone, so there was music, a retrospective of John Peel favourites, and a cup of tea steamed on the coffee table in front of her. The book was, unsurprisingly, something large and leather-bound and leaning towards the 'tome' side of things. "Come in, door's open!" she called, unwilling to uncurl herself from the armchair just yet.
Stephen bit his lip as he pushed open the door, the wooden portal creaking open as he peeked his tousel-haired head through the door frame as he looked around for the teacher. "Uhh, Hi Amanda," he glanced around, nervous now that he was finally in here. "Umm...so I had a question...request...thing to ask."
"Come on in and tell me about it," Amanda replied, setting the book aside and waving at the couch. As Stephen came in properly, she got up and turned the music off. "You want a cuppa?"
The first traces of a smile touched Stephen's lips as he nodded, slipping into the room and settling himself on the edge of the couch, "I'm never gonna say no to a taste of home."
Amanda set about the task of pouring Stephen a cup of tea from the teapot sitting on the kitchenette counter and handed it to him before settling down in her chair again. "What's up? You have serious face. Please don't tell me you did something and it backfired and now it's snowing inside or raining potatoes or something."
The teenager tilted his head to the side, a thoughtful look in his eyes as he considered that, "Hmmm, you know that'd be a pretty cool way to make sure we had a white Christmas," he allowed. "No it's nothing like that it's just..." his voice trailed off as he stared down at his hands in his lap clenching and unclenching them into fists.
"Snow inside means lots of clean up..." Amanda began, but paused. Stephen was... upset? Uncomfortable, at the very least. That was pretty unusual in the prankster. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. I won't yell at you until after things are fixed, promise," she said, an expression of concern entering her face and voice.
"I..." Stephen glanced down at his hands clenching and unclenching them for a moment as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. The moment stretched out before he shook his head and looked up at Amanda, "I didn't do anything, break anything yet but...this last month...with everything that happened. I...I felt so useless. When that thing took over Quentin, Ms Maximoff had to protect me, rush us out of the room so we wouldn't get in the way." The teenager turned a pained gaze on Amanda as he clenched his hand into tight fists. "I...I don't want to be the one being protected. I want to be able to protect you all, the people I care about."
"You weren't useless, Stephen. I couldn't have done that ritual without you," Amanda replied. But before he could say anything in response, she added: "But I totally get you. I was the same, back when I was your age. Stuff happened, I couldn't stop any of it, and most of the time it felt like people had to save my arse and put themselves in danger doing it. What do you want to do about it?"
He offered her a small smile, leaning back on the couch as he stared down at the cup of hot liquid clasped in his hands. "I know you're not really a big fan of fighting, or of us using magic that way but...bad things keep happening and I want to be able to help. I was wondering, hoping you could teach me to use my magic to fight people like you do."
"I'm not a big fan of you lot thinking that you have to fight other people's battles," Amanda corrected gently. "But defending yourself and those around you? I understand that. And sometimes hiding behind a shielding spell isn't enough." She leaned back, considering her student. "I can teach you a few things. But there's more to it than just the magic - you need to be able to do things the mundane way as well. I know you have self-defence with the Gen X training, but I'd like to suggest you do some extra - maybe with Dom and Doug. They both have non-offensive powers and have had to compensate for that, and they've been trained well. I think you could learn a lot from them."
"You'd be ok with it?" The teenager leant forward, a spark of surprise, of almost satisfaction dancing in his eyes. "I'll do it...wait what you mean..." Stephen's face fell as he gave Amanda a brave smile, "That's gonna be more physical training isn't it?"
"Like I said, I've been exactly where you are, and it would be hypocritical of me to tell you 'no'," Amanda replied, grinning at his reaction to her second suggestion. "Only fair that I pass on exactly what I got, isn't it?"
The teenager narrowed his eyes, almost glaring at his teacher, "This is a really twisted form of 'I wish you have students like yourself isn't it'" he accused almost playfully. "You know I thought the whole idea was you were supposed to make things better for the next generation, not make them suffer cause you did. Now if I ever have a student I'm gonna have to make them carry buckets of water up a hill or something too."
"Now you're learning," Amanda replied with a laugh.
