(TSS) Talia and Amanda || Lock and Key
Nov. 10th, 2020 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTalia catches up with Amanda to apologize for the... awkwardness.
She owed her an explanation or something.
That was Talia's excuse as she started out of the room after Amanda, swallowing hard as she prepared to call out, "Au - um, Amanda?"
Already off to a stellar start.
At the sound of her name, Amanda stopped and turned, then frowned a little as she realised who had spoken. "Hmm?" she asked. "What's up... Talia, isn't it?"
She did her best not to wilt at the frown. It was nothing, she knew it was nothing, she just... "I'm sorry. About tackling you earlier. I know you're not... it was kind of a reflex. I'm sorry."
Amanda's expression softened slightly, especially as she noticed a slight droop of Talia's tail. She was so very much like Kurt, it was bewildering. She smiled a little. "That's okay, kiddo. You startled me a bit, but no harm done." She paused, not knowing what to say next, especially as a million questions were whirling through her brain. "You're close, are you? You and your version of me?"
Talia perked up the smallest bit. "Yeah. I grew up in the mansion, you - she was the only one Mom and Dad trusted me to be alone with for a long time. Something about the mansion being cursed." She rocked on her feet, hands clasped behind her back. "Do you um... do you have the werelight?" She twirled a finger as if that somehow demonstrated what she was talking about.
Amanda broke into a grin. "George?" she asked, snapping her fingers. The werelight - pulsating with the lights of a city road seen from above at night - appeared by the witch's left ear. "Old friend of yours, then, I take it?"
The girl was absolutely delighted. "Yes! I used to chase him around with my teleportation - actually, I think it was a way to help me practice and learn how to aim where I wanted to go, but it was just fun at the time."
"'M glad he helped, even if it was educational." Amanda leaned back against the wall, relaxing a bit. "So, I have to ask, but you don't have to answer... I know Kurt's your dad, but your mum?"
A small smile pulled at Talia's lips as she remembered the way Doug had reacted to Shogo's revelation about his own mother. "Wanda Maximoff."
Amanda's eyebrows shot up. "The Boss Lady?" She snorted. "Well, good to see they worked out in one universe. Or at least made you."
"They were a thing for a while," Talia confirmed. "And they're... they were still friends."
Amanda caught the change in tense. "Your Topaz?" she asked quietly.
Talia winced, looking around to make sure Ellie wasn't nearby. "Yeah. She didn't leave too many people alive. I'm not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to the attack or if it was just kill as many people as possible, but..." She sighed, and shrugged. "Depressing stuff. Ya know."
Reacting to Amanda's emotions on a subconscious level, George made slow circles around Talia's head, as if to be soothing. Or comforting. "I'm really sorry to hear that. It's a hell of a thing to go through, especially coming here and finding us." Amanda wasn't sure if Frankenberry Cat rules applied here, but she remembered the pain of losing her friends and students... and then finding they'd been 'replaced' by entirely different versions. "We'll do whatever it takes to fix things as much as we can," she added. It wasn't a promise, more a statement of fact.
Talia's eyes followed George, and she smiled slowly. "I know." It was a constant she had always been able to depend on, right to the very end. "I'm sorry this turned into your problem but I'm also... really, really grateful for the help. You might've noticed we're not exactly a crack team of experts." She thought of Shogo babbling about gravity and Franklin half telepathically shouting and reiterated, "Well. Possibly crack in a different way."
Amanda laughed at that. "You'd be surprised at what people can manage to do. You saw what my lot are like."
Another check to make sure a certain someone wasn't around. "Sorry about Ellie getting... like that. I thought it was kind of... nice, though." Talia tilted her head, thinking. "I mean, not nice, nothing about this is nice. Just... normal." There was comfort in that.
"She's grieving. All of you are. And you're a long way from home - I don't hold that against her. It has to be tough, all of this."
"Yeah, but..." Talia rocked on her heels, sighing. "It'll be okay."
She had to keep telling herself that. It would be okay.
She owed her an explanation or something.
That was Talia's excuse as she started out of the room after Amanda, swallowing hard as she prepared to call out, "Au - um, Amanda?"
Already off to a stellar start.
At the sound of her name, Amanda stopped and turned, then frowned a little as she realised who had spoken. "Hmm?" she asked. "What's up... Talia, isn't it?"
She did her best not to wilt at the frown. It was nothing, she knew it was nothing, she just... "I'm sorry. About tackling you earlier. I know you're not... it was kind of a reflex. I'm sorry."
Amanda's expression softened slightly, especially as she noticed a slight droop of Talia's tail. She was so very much like Kurt, it was bewildering. She smiled a little. "That's okay, kiddo. You startled me a bit, but no harm done." She paused, not knowing what to say next, especially as a million questions were whirling through her brain. "You're close, are you? You and your version of me?"
Talia perked up the smallest bit. "Yeah. I grew up in the mansion, you - she was the only one Mom and Dad trusted me to be alone with for a long time. Something about the mansion being cursed." She rocked on her feet, hands clasped behind her back. "Do you um... do you have the werelight?" She twirled a finger as if that somehow demonstrated what she was talking about.
Amanda broke into a grin. "George?" she asked, snapping her fingers. The werelight - pulsating with the lights of a city road seen from above at night - appeared by the witch's left ear. "Old friend of yours, then, I take it?"
The girl was absolutely delighted. "Yes! I used to chase him around with my teleportation - actually, I think it was a way to help me practice and learn how to aim where I wanted to go, but it was just fun at the time."
"'M glad he helped, even if it was educational." Amanda leaned back against the wall, relaxing a bit. "So, I have to ask, but you don't have to answer... I know Kurt's your dad, but your mum?"
A small smile pulled at Talia's lips as she remembered the way Doug had reacted to Shogo's revelation about his own mother. "Wanda Maximoff."
Amanda's eyebrows shot up. "The Boss Lady?" She snorted. "Well, good to see they worked out in one universe. Or at least made you."
"They were a thing for a while," Talia confirmed. "And they're... they were still friends."
Amanda caught the change in tense. "Your Topaz?" she asked quietly.
Talia winced, looking around to make sure Ellie wasn't nearby. "Yeah. She didn't leave too many people alive. I'm not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to the attack or if it was just kill as many people as possible, but..." She sighed, and shrugged. "Depressing stuff. Ya know."
Reacting to Amanda's emotions on a subconscious level, George made slow circles around Talia's head, as if to be soothing. Or comforting. "I'm really sorry to hear that. It's a hell of a thing to go through, especially coming here and finding us." Amanda wasn't sure if Frankenberry Cat rules applied here, but she remembered the pain of losing her friends and students... and then finding they'd been 'replaced' by entirely different versions. "We'll do whatever it takes to fix things as much as we can," she added. It wasn't a promise, more a statement of fact.
Talia's eyes followed George, and she smiled slowly. "I know." It was a constant she had always been able to depend on, right to the very end. "I'm sorry this turned into your problem but I'm also... really, really grateful for the help. You might've noticed we're not exactly a crack team of experts." She thought of Shogo babbling about gravity and Franklin half telepathically shouting and reiterated, "Well. Possibly crack in a different way."
Amanda laughed at that. "You'd be surprised at what people can manage to do. You saw what my lot are like."
Another check to make sure a certain someone wasn't around. "Sorry about Ellie getting... like that. I thought it was kind of... nice, though." Talia tilted her head, thinking. "I mean, not nice, nothing about this is nice. Just... normal." There was comfort in that.
"She's grieving. All of you are. And you're a long way from home - I don't hold that against her. It has to be tough, all of this."
"Yeah, but..." Talia rocked on her heels, sighing. "It'll be okay."
She had to keep telling herself that. It would be okay.
