Molly and Amanda: Recognition (Backdated)
Aug. 1st, 2018 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logs While making sure the cuts on Molly's back aren't a residual magic spell, Amanda makes an unsettling discovery.
The inhibitor collar was starting to itch as Molly reached under to scratch her neck a little. Her back was healing a little faster than normal due to the nature of the curse, but it wasn't fast enough for Molly, who continued to lay face down on the medlab bed. Any other position hurt, though they had to do it occasionally so she could get proper circulation. They had gradually started to wean her off of the painkillers they'd given her through an IV, which she still absolutely did not like. IVs meant she couldn't quite move her arm either.
Someone had brought her headphones awhile ago, so she tried to listen to music, or watch Netflix from an awkwardly placed laptop. on a table beside the bed.
Hopefully, this would be over soon. Everyone told her there was no more curse, which...she finally started to believe, but now came the waiting to get better.
Pausing at the door, Amanda winced as she looked in on Molly. Seeing her lying on her front brought back memories of her own recovery after Candra, and the weeks of pain and irritation. Still, hopefully these scars would heal. She knocked on the partly-open door. "Hey Mols. You up for a visit?"
From the angle she was at, Molly saw someone wearing a pair of battered flip flops, their feet and legs covered in bandaids. She could hear Amanda's voice over her headphones a little, so she slowly looked up and saw the rest of her, pulling her headphones down. Her eyes widened.
"Dude, that's a lot of bandages."
"There were a lot of mystical energy spikes," came the amused reply. Amanda pulled a chair over, partly to make things easier for Molly, partly because she was still weak. "I ran into the bloke responsible for all this and he wasn't in the mood to be nice. But I'll be all right. How're you doing?"
Molly made a face. "Everything hurts. I don't like it," she was silent a moment. "Did you kick his ass?"
"Not even a bit." Amanda made a face, but kept her tone light. "Bastard knew me from back in the day and had too many tricks up his sleeve. But from what I hear, the Trenchcoats gave him what-for when they got Topaz back." She didn't mention that that mission had cost her team. "Actually, I'm here on a mission. The docs wanted me to look at your back - they seemed to think there was some sort of spell going on?"
"Um....I guess?" Molly offered with confusion. "It was a curse so....lots of people had spells." She blinked in slow dawning realization. "Or do you mean something else? But they said it was over."
"It is," Amanda hastened to reassure Molly. "But the cuts on your back, they weren't just lines. They were... symbols. Writing. Something like what someone did to me, back when I was a kid." She twisted awkwardly in her seat and pulled up the loose t-shirt she was wearing to show Molly a section of her lower back. Underneath the fresh bandages were lines of old scarring, black and angry-looking, the words and symbols of a channelling spell. "Yours isn't any way as bad as that, and it's healing, but the docs just wanted me to take a look."
Molly studied Amanda's scarring. "Wait...augere. I know that word," she said. "Clarice said it once. She read it on my back." She swallowed, then nodded. "You can look."
Amanda grunted slightly as she pulled herself back up out of the chair, wincing as some of the stitches strained a little. Shuffling closer, she undid the ties of the hospital gown Molly wore, exposing her back and the layer of bandages over it. It was a large gauze pad, held in place with surgical tape for easy access, and Amanda gently loosened the tape on the side closest to her so she could carefully fold the gauze over and expose the damage Adam's curse had done.
It was like looking into a freakish mirror. The cuts were healing and in some places were raised welts of pink, new skin, but the spell was the same. More than the same, it was identical. It was just missing the charcoal that had been rubbed into Amanda's wounds to make the scars permanent. Amanda gulped a little and grabbed the edge of the mattress to hold herself up. It was proof. Proof that Adam had known her back then. Hell, he'd probably used the channelling spell for himself.
The bed shook a little as Molly felt Amanda shove her weight against it. When Amanda didn't speak for awhile, Molly craned her head trying to look at her.
"Amanda? Are you okay? Do I need to call the docs?" she said.
Amanda cleared her throat and shook her head, even though Molly couldn't see. "No, no Mols, I'm okay. Just a bit winded is all." She took a long shaky breath, then another, and focussed on the task at hand. Yes, the spell was exactly the same as the one she had, but unlike hers, there was no power there. No magic to channel, so no channelling spell. "Well, good news is that it's not going to do anything to you. It is a spell, yeah, but one that only works on magic users."
Molly made a face. "That's good," she said, though she wasn't very comforted. "What happens if I ever use magic?" She never tried to do a spell ever, or wanted to, but with their lives you never knew.
Amanda doubted that would be possible - some people were magic users and others were teapots, to use her old metaphor - but she wanted to reassure the younger woman. "It's a channelling spell," she explained, replacing the gauze gently and re-tying the strings on Molly's hospital gown.
"It basically turns whatever you put it on into a conduit - you can pull magical energy out of them with it. That's why it was done to me, back when I was a kid." The words rang true, even though they weren't how Amanda remembered things.
"It can also be used to put magical energy into something, but they have to be able to deal with magical energy in the first place. If I used it to charge you up, for example, you'd probably have some kind of brain overload and keel over. People aren't normally able to channel the magic - they have to be born into it, or go through years and years of training, or be a mutant, like me or Topaz."
The room was quiet for a moment as Molly processed what Amanda was saying. She frowned deeply. "Somebody did this to you as a kid? That's awful. But why would they do it to me? I mean...You're nice but...we don't really know each other, y'know?"
"He was mostly after Topaz. And while he did get a couple of her mates, most of you lot were targets of convenience. You, Calisto, Bobby, Xavin... you had connections to the mansion and didn't have any reason to think you would be in danger. And to be honest, after a while he just got off on inflicting pain. On you, and on me and Topaz. 'S why this spell, instead of just random cuts. He wanted me to know it was him and that he hadn't forgotten me." Amanda sighed. "I'm just sorry you got caught in the middle."
Molly rested her head back against her pillow. She thought she and Topaz were friends. But from the way Amanda put it, being a target of convenience, maybe Topaz had said something to her. Maybe she didn't think of her as a friend. It hurt, but she didn't say anything. It wasn't Amanda's fault.
"It's okay. I can take it," she said finally, giving her a smile. She could be emotionally unsquishable too.
Amanda caught a hint of... something, but didn't know what. "Hey, it's over now and all, too," she said, with a smile and a light touch to Molly's shoulder. "And you're healing really well. You should be out of here soon - before me, I think."
Molly let out a breath of relief. "Oh man, I can't wait," she said. "I miss my room. And sitting back," she said. She shook her head. "Did...it take a long time for you to heal too?"
"Longer. But mine were worse since they had charcoal rubbed into them to make them stay. That's why they're all black. Yours totally aren't. And since they were caused by magic, I don't think you'll even scar." Amanda gave Molly a sudden grin. "You know what you need? One of those massage tables, the padded ones with a hole for your face. That way you can lie on your front and watch TV or whatever on your tablet without having to hold it over your head."
Molly's eyes widened. "Oh....that would be AWESOME!" she said with glee. "Cause everything about this sucks." Her smile then faded a little. "Sorry about your back, though. Whoever did that was a really asshat."
Amanda considered Molly's last words. Who had done it? Rack or Candra? The old world or this new one? Either way, did it actually matter? "A total, complete fuckweasel," she agreed. "Let me go talk to the docs about getting you sorted a bit better, yeah?"
"Yes, please," Molly said with a smile.
Things were looking up. Or, down, rather if it all worked out.
The inhibitor collar was starting to itch as Molly reached under to scratch her neck a little. Her back was healing a little faster than normal due to the nature of the curse, but it wasn't fast enough for Molly, who continued to lay face down on the medlab bed. Any other position hurt, though they had to do it occasionally so she could get proper circulation. They had gradually started to wean her off of the painkillers they'd given her through an IV, which she still absolutely did not like. IVs meant she couldn't quite move her arm either.
Someone had brought her headphones awhile ago, so she tried to listen to music, or watch Netflix from an awkwardly placed laptop. on a table beside the bed.
Hopefully, this would be over soon. Everyone told her there was no more curse, which...she finally started to believe, but now came the waiting to get better.
Pausing at the door, Amanda winced as she looked in on Molly. Seeing her lying on her front brought back memories of her own recovery after Candra, and the weeks of pain and irritation. Still, hopefully these scars would heal. She knocked on the partly-open door. "Hey Mols. You up for a visit?"
From the angle she was at, Molly saw someone wearing a pair of battered flip flops, their feet and legs covered in bandaids. She could hear Amanda's voice over her headphones a little, so she slowly looked up and saw the rest of her, pulling her headphones down. Her eyes widened.
"Dude, that's a lot of bandages."
"There were a lot of mystical energy spikes," came the amused reply. Amanda pulled a chair over, partly to make things easier for Molly, partly because she was still weak. "I ran into the bloke responsible for all this and he wasn't in the mood to be nice. But I'll be all right. How're you doing?"
Molly made a face. "Everything hurts. I don't like it," she was silent a moment. "Did you kick his ass?"
"Not even a bit." Amanda made a face, but kept her tone light. "Bastard knew me from back in the day and had too many tricks up his sleeve. But from what I hear, the Trenchcoats gave him what-for when they got Topaz back." She didn't mention that that mission had cost her team. "Actually, I'm here on a mission. The docs wanted me to look at your back - they seemed to think there was some sort of spell going on?"
"Um....I guess?" Molly offered with confusion. "It was a curse so....lots of people had spells." She blinked in slow dawning realization. "Or do you mean something else? But they said it was over."
"It is," Amanda hastened to reassure Molly. "But the cuts on your back, they weren't just lines. They were... symbols. Writing. Something like what someone did to me, back when I was a kid." She twisted awkwardly in her seat and pulled up the loose t-shirt she was wearing to show Molly a section of her lower back. Underneath the fresh bandages were lines of old scarring, black and angry-looking, the words and symbols of a channelling spell. "Yours isn't any way as bad as that, and it's healing, but the docs just wanted me to take a look."
Molly studied Amanda's scarring. "Wait...augere. I know that word," she said. "Clarice said it once. She read it on my back." She swallowed, then nodded. "You can look."
Amanda grunted slightly as she pulled herself back up out of the chair, wincing as some of the stitches strained a little. Shuffling closer, she undid the ties of the hospital gown Molly wore, exposing her back and the layer of bandages over it. It was a large gauze pad, held in place with surgical tape for easy access, and Amanda gently loosened the tape on the side closest to her so she could carefully fold the gauze over and expose the damage Adam's curse had done.
It was like looking into a freakish mirror. The cuts were healing and in some places were raised welts of pink, new skin, but the spell was the same. More than the same, it was identical. It was just missing the charcoal that had been rubbed into Amanda's wounds to make the scars permanent. Amanda gulped a little and grabbed the edge of the mattress to hold herself up. It was proof. Proof that Adam had known her back then. Hell, he'd probably used the channelling spell for himself.
The bed shook a little as Molly felt Amanda shove her weight against it. When Amanda didn't speak for awhile, Molly craned her head trying to look at her.
"Amanda? Are you okay? Do I need to call the docs?" she said.
Amanda cleared her throat and shook her head, even though Molly couldn't see. "No, no Mols, I'm okay. Just a bit winded is all." She took a long shaky breath, then another, and focussed on the task at hand. Yes, the spell was exactly the same as the one she had, but unlike hers, there was no power there. No magic to channel, so no channelling spell. "Well, good news is that it's not going to do anything to you. It is a spell, yeah, but one that only works on magic users."
Molly made a face. "That's good," she said, though she wasn't very comforted. "What happens if I ever use magic?" She never tried to do a spell ever, or wanted to, but with their lives you never knew.
Amanda doubted that would be possible - some people were magic users and others were teapots, to use her old metaphor - but she wanted to reassure the younger woman. "It's a channelling spell," she explained, replacing the gauze gently and re-tying the strings on Molly's hospital gown.
"It basically turns whatever you put it on into a conduit - you can pull magical energy out of them with it. That's why it was done to me, back when I was a kid." The words rang true, even though they weren't how Amanda remembered things.
"It can also be used to put magical energy into something, but they have to be able to deal with magical energy in the first place. If I used it to charge you up, for example, you'd probably have some kind of brain overload and keel over. People aren't normally able to channel the magic - they have to be born into it, or go through years and years of training, or be a mutant, like me or Topaz."
The room was quiet for a moment as Molly processed what Amanda was saying. She frowned deeply. "Somebody did this to you as a kid? That's awful. But why would they do it to me? I mean...You're nice but...we don't really know each other, y'know?"
"He was mostly after Topaz. And while he did get a couple of her mates, most of you lot were targets of convenience. You, Calisto, Bobby, Xavin... you had connections to the mansion and didn't have any reason to think you would be in danger. And to be honest, after a while he just got off on inflicting pain. On you, and on me and Topaz. 'S why this spell, instead of just random cuts. He wanted me to know it was him and that he hadn't forgotten me." Amanda sighed. "I'm just sorry you got caught in the middle."
Molly rested her head back against her pillow. She thought she and Topaz were friends. But from the way Amanda put it, being a target of convenience, maybe Topaz had said something to her. Maybe she didn't think of her as a friend. It hurt, but she didn't say anything. It wasn't Amanda's fault.
"It's okay. I can take it," she said finally, giving her a smile. She could be emotionally unsquishable too.
Amanda caught a hint of... something, but didn't know what. "Hey, it's over now and all, too," she said, with a smile and a light touch to Molly's shoulder. "And you're healing really well. You should be out of here soon - before me, I think."
Molly let out a breath of relief. "Oh man, I can't wait," she said. "I miss my room. And sitting back," she said. She shook her head. "Did...it take a long time for you to heal too?"
"Longer. But mine were worse since they had charcoal rubbed into them to make them stay. That's why they're all black. Yours totally aren't. And since they were caused by magic, I don't think you'll even scar." Amanda gave Molly a sudden grin. "You know what you need? One of those massage tables, the padded ones with a hole for your face. That way you can lie on your front and watch TV or whatever on your tablet without having to hold it over your head."
Molly's eyes widened. "Oh....that would be AWESOME!" she said with glee. "Cause everything about this sucks." Her smile then faded a little. "Sorry about your back, though. Whoever did that was a really asshat."
Amanda considered Molly's last words. Who had done it? Rack or Candra? The old world or this new one? Either way, did it actually matter? "A total, complete fuckweasel," she agreed. "Let me go talk to the docs about getting you sorted a bit better, yeah?"
"Yes, please," Molly said with a smile.
Things were looking up. Or, down, rather if it all worked out.
