Topaz and Clea; Topaz and Steven
Sep. 27th, 2018 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_topaz posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsTopaz drops in to Snow Valley to visit Clea. And you know, casually apologize for being a self-sacrificing idiot who needed to be rescued.
The entrance hall of Snow Valley was blessedly peaceful and devoid of life other than the redhead behind the receptionist's counter, which Topaz was grateful for. She'd come here with a purpose (aside from getting upstairs and stealing some tea from Amanda's desk - she was sure no one would begrudge her some hot water). "Well don't you look professional," she teased Clea with a small smile, approaching the counter.
Clea looked up from her laptop and smiled back, "Topaz! This is a surprise." She fixed her blazer. "Thanks. I try to fit into the corporate America thing I've seen on TV but I like jeans more. How are you feeling? Better I hope."
Topaz leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. "I was in the area, thought I'd stop by." Her smile faltered the slightest bit when Clea asked how she was doing. "Yeah, I'm... working on it. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. Well, no, I mostly wanted to say thank you. You put yourself in a dangerous situation when you didn't have to, and I..." She rubbed the back of her neck, the tips of her ears burning. She had never been good at this being genuine thing. "I'm sorry you had to get mixed up in it. And that you had to see me like that. Not exactly my finest hour."
"Well, I volunteered to go because, well, you were there for me when we were thrust into a different dimension. You had my back then and it would be kind of fucked up if I left someone I considered a friend to be dragged off." Clea said being serious as she looked at Topaz. "I feel like we made an unspoken pact - we won't let each others "families"'..." She said with quotations. "...let them take us." Closing her notebook she continued, "I was terrified when I saw you in that room."
"People with weird and terrible families have to stick together, right?" There was almost a note of laughter in Topaz' voice. "Yeah, it was....." She shook her head. Clea didn't need details. "I really am sorry. If I'd had my way you never would've had to see that." Mostly because no one would have ever gone after her. But Clea didn't need to hear that either.
"I am sure that if we had our way 100% of the time, nothing would ever happen to us." She made it lighthearted. "I've come to the conclusion that bad things will just happen. We aren't exactly 'normal', and we are just a magnet. But if anyone steals you away again, you can bet I will be there to find you."
"Same." Topaz smiled. "Maybe let's both try to avoid that for a while, though. I'm not sure Amanda's heart can take much more of this. Or at the very least it's someone else's turn to get kidnapped."
"Deal. However, her being distracted did lead me to this here job. I think the tea I make daily helps. Speaking of which, want some?"
Topaz bit down a wince, not wanting to think about what Amanda had been distracted by. "Tea sounds brilliant. They've shown you were the good stuff is, I assume?"
Clea snorted, "Topaz, who do you think you are talking to?" She teased. And opened her drawer and pulled out a tin. "My mum sends me this stuff all the time. I pretty much purged anything that wasn't good or an insult and socked up with the good stuff. I can already feel the stress that was in this place lifted." She held up two fingers to show, "But only slightly."
"Of course." Topaz laughed. "What was I thinking by questioning you."
Same discussion, different person. Stephen is surprisingly wise. And then he's Stephen again and all is right.
It wasn't hard to find Stephen, especially when he was actively using magic. He had a unique signature, which Topaz had become highly attuned to during magic classes. She found him in the magic classroom, watching for a moment as he cast his spell. "You're waving your hands too much," she finally said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she walked in. "You're casting spells, not conducting an orchestra."
The teenager jumped slightly, glancing back over his shoulder for a moment before he spotted Topaz offering her a small smile. "Well yeah, I mean you don't have to," he span around to face her, throwing his hands out as the paperclip he'd enchanted to float cut a path through the air, "but doesn't it just look so much cooler if we do it this way? It's like I'm conducting an orchestra of magic!"
Topaz shook her head, sitting on the desk to Stephen and picking up another paperclip and twisting it. "We're not trying to look cool, we're trying to live." She tapped the paper clip - now a straight piece of metal - and it floated into the air, twisting itself around. "I suppose you don't need me to tell you that, though. You survived the Destines' demons."
"Somehow yeah," Stephen offered Topaz a small smile as he settled back leaning against a table, one finger tapping the table, a flash of light as lightning crawled across the surface of the table, towards two more paperclips. The teen bit his lip as he gestured with one hand watching them swim up into the air, bright sparkles falling behind them like fairy dust. "Maybe, but isn't this what it should be about? Not fighting for our lives but using it to have fun, make life better?"
"Young logic wins the day." Topaz settled herself on the desk, curling a leg under herself and resting her elbow on her knee. It was meant to be a casual look, but she mostly didn't have the energy to stand. Sleep hadn't been easy to come by since... since. "I can't say much, I guess. I'm the one who started all... this." She waved a hand at the twirling paper clips. "Amanda did warn me about setting an example." She ran her hand through her hair, eyes drifting off for a moment before snapping back to Stephen with only slightly more focus. "Anyways. I wanted to say I'm sorry, for the stuff with the Destines. You shouldn't have been dragged into that." She ducked her head, cheeks heating up slightly. "And I'm sorry you saw me like that. It was... not my proudest moment."
The teenager shook his head at Topaz, pushing away from the table so he could turn to face her straight on. "That wasn't on you, anyone being stuck in that place for more than 5 minutes is gonna be having a very very bad day. Besides, who in this place hasn't been kidnapped or abducted to an alternate dimension or something. I haven't been here that long but I've kinda figured out that is someone's missing 9 times out of ten they've been kidnapped and we go after them. It's what friends do."
Topaz raised an eyebrow, impressed with the goofball for managing such good, serious logic. "That seems to be the way of life around here, yes," she agreed with a small smile. "It's amazing how quickly you get used to it, isn't it?"
"To be honest, it's terrifying how easy it is for us to get used to everything that happens around here," Stephen admitted, "I mean I never thought I'd think oh my friend got kidnapped that's just Tuesday lets go get her back. You know, sometimes I wonder if coming here was such a smart idea for us."
"Hey, at least if you ever get kidnapped, you know you're in the right place." Nearly six years had made Topaz more or less numb to the weird things that happened around the mansion. Although she was starting to question if that was good or not.
A wry laugh was drawn from Stephen's lips, as he shook his head, "Well that's true but you know never had to worry about getting kidnapped before. Just you know, giant cats and making sure we outpranked cabin 2, and you know what." THe teenager let a lazy grin spread over his face ,"We won every time."
"When you start winning every time, it's time to find new opponents before you get comfortable," Topaz said. "Maybe... look for different opponents than the Destines next time, though."
This time Stephen's laugh was genuine as he nodded at Topaz, "You know, you just might be onto something there," he allowed, "I'll start off with someone just a little easier to tangle with than them...for now. One day I'll get up to pranking people like them, and wouldn't that just be awesome."
Topaz stared at him for a moment, then sighed, shaking her head. "This," she said solemnly, "is why I shouldn't be allowed to talk to you."
The entrance hall of Snow Valley was blessedly peaceful and devoid of life other than the redhead behind the receptionist's counter, which Topaz was grateful for. She'd come here with a purpose (aside from getting upstairs and stealing some tea from Amanda's desk - she was sure no one would begrudge her some hot water). "Well don't you look professional," she teased Clea with a small smile, approaching the counter.
Clea looked up from her laptop and smiled back, "Topaz! This is a surprise." She fixed her blazer. "Thanks. I try to fit into the corporate America thing I've seen on TV but I like jeans more. How are you feeling? Better I hope."
Topaz leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. "I was in the area, thought I'd stop by." Her smile faltered the slightest bit when Clea asked how she was doing. "Yeah, I'm... working on it. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. Well, no, I mostly wanted to say thank you. You put yourself in a dangerous situation when you didn't have to, and I..." She rubbed the back of her neck, the tips of her ears burning. She had never been good at this being genuine thing. "I'm sorry you had to get mixed up in it. And that you had to see me like that. Not exactly my finest hour."
"Well, I volunteered to go because, well, you were there for me when we were thrust into a different dimension. You had my back then and it would be kind of fucked up if I left someone I considered a friend to be dragged off." Clea said being serious as she looked at Topaz. "I feel like we made an unspoken pact - we won't let each others "families"'..." She said with quotations. "...let them take us." Closing her notebook she continued, "I was terrified when I saw you in that room."
"People with weird and terrible families have to stick together, right?" There was almost a note of laughter in Topaz' voice. "Yeah, it was....." She shook her head. Clea didn't need details. "I really am sorry. If I'd had my way you never would've had to see that." Mostly because no one would have ever gone after her. But Clea didn't need to hear that either.
"I am sure that if we had our way 100% of the time, nothing would ever happen to us." She made it lighthearted. "I've come to the conclusion that bad things will just happen. We aren't exactly 'normal', and we are just a magnet. But if anyone steals you away again, you can bet I will be there to find you."
"Same." Topaz smiled. "Maybe let's both try to avoid that for a while, though. I'm not sure Amanda's heart can take much more of this. Or at the very least it's someone else's turn to get kidnapped."
"Deal. However, her being distracted did lead me to this here job. I think the tea I make daily helps. Speaking of which, want some?"
Topaz bit down a wince, not wanting to think about what Amanda had been distracted by. "Tea sounds brilliant. They've shown you were the good stuff is, I assume?"
Clea snorted, "Topaz, who do you think you are talking to?" She teased. And opened her drawer and pulled out a tin. "My mum sends me this stuff all the time. I pretty much purged anything that wasn't good or an insult and socked up with the good stuff. I can already feel the stress that was in this place lifted." She held up two fingers to show, "But only slightly."
"Of course." Topaz laughed. "What was I thinking by questioning you."
Same discussion, different person. Stephen is surprisingly wise. And then he's Stephen again and all is right.
It wasn't hard to find Stephen, especially when he was actively using magic. He had a unique signature, which Topaz had become highly attuned to during magic classes. She found him in the magic classroom, watching for a moment as he cast his spell. "You're waving your hands too much," she finally said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she walked in. "You're casting spells, not conducting an orchestra."
The teenager jumped slightly, glancing back over his shoulder for a moment before he spotted Topaz offering her a small smile. "Well yeah, I mean you don't have to," he span around to face her, throwing his hands out as the paperclip he'd enchanted to float cut a path through the air, "but doesn't it just look so much cooler if we do it this way? It's like I'm conducting an orchestra of magic!"
Topaz shook her head, sitting on the desk to Stephen and picking up another paperclip and twisting it. "We're not trying to look cool, we're trying to live." She tapped the paper clip - now a straight piece of metal - and it floated into the air, twisting itself around. "I suppose you don't need me to tell you that, though. You survived the Destines' demons."
"Somehow yeah," Stephen offered Topaz a small smile as he settled back leaning against a table, one finger tapping the table, a flash of light as lightning crawled across the surface of the table, towards two more paperclips. The teen bit his lip as he gestured with one hand watching them swim up into the air, bright sparkles falling behind them like fairy dust. "Maybe, but isn't this what it should be about? Not fighting for our lives but using it to have fun, make life better?"
"Young logic wins the day." Topaz settled herself on the desk, curling a leg under herself and resting her elbow on her knee. It was meant to be a casual look, but she mostly didn't have the energy to stand. Sleep hadn't been easy to come by since... since. "I can't say much, I guess. I'm the one who started all... this." She waved a hand at the twirling paper clips. "Amanda did warn me about setting an example." She ran her hand through her hair, eyes drifting off for a moment before snapping back to Stephen with only slightly more focus. "Anyways. I wanted to say I'm sorry, for the stuff with the Destines. You shouldn't have been dragged into that." She ducked her head, cheeks heating up slightly. "And I'm sorry you saw me like that. It was... not my proudest moment."
The teenager shook his head at Topaz, pushing away from the table so he could turn to face her straight on. "That wasn't on you, anyone being stuck in that place for more than 5 minutes is gonna be having a very very bad day. Besides, who in this place hasn't been kidnapped or abducted to an alternate dimension or something. I haven't been here that long but I've kinda figured out that is someone's missing 9 times out of ten they've been kidnapped and we go after them. It's what friends do."
Topaz raised an eyebrow, impressed with the goofball for managing such good, serious logic. "That seems to be the way of life around here, yes," she agreed with a small smile. "It's amazing how quickly you get used to it, isn't it?"
"To be honest, it's terrifying how easy it is for us to get used to everything that happens around here," Stephen admitted, "I mean I never thought I'd think oh my friend got kidnapped that's just Tuesday lets go get her back. You know, sometimes I wonder if coming here was such a smart idea for us."
"Hey, at least if you ever get kidnapped, you know you're in the right place." Nearly six years had made Topaz more or less numb to the weird things that happened around the mansion. Although she was starting to question if that was good or not.
A wry laugh was drawn from Stephen's lips, as he shook his head, "Well that's true but you know never had to worry about getting kidnapped before. Just you know, giant cats and making sure we outpranked cabin 2, and you know what." THe teenager let a lazy grin spread over his face ,"We won every time."
"When you start winning every time, it's time to find new opponents before you get comfortable," Topaz said. "Maybe... look for different opponents than the Destines next time, though."
This time Stephen's laugh was genuine as he nodded at Topaz, "You know, you just might be onto something there," he allowed, "I'll start off with someone just a little easier to tangle with than them...for now. One day I'll get up to pranking people like them, and wouldn't that just be awesome."
Topaz stared at him for a moment, then sighed, shaking her head. "This," she said solemnly, "is why I shouldn't be allowed to talk to you."
