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xp_logsFollowing this exchange of emails, Amanda calls Bethany about visiting the asylum. And they clear up any repercussions of this bit of snoggage
April in Westchester reminded Amanda of home - cold and damp. She'd ignored the slight drizzle outside after she'd left Nate to sleep off his temporary insanity and had gone for a walk, both to clear her head and to get some privacy for what was going to be an interesting phone call, to say the least. For a while she'd simply wandered, summoning up the nerve, and then finally she'd found a seat on a damp, mossy stump and pulled out the phone Pete had organised for her upon her return. Her fingers trembled slightly as she pressed the buttons.
There was time for all of one ring - the amount of time it took Bethany to come tearing down the hallway and duck into her room, to take a flying leap across the bed and snatch her phone up off the nightstand. "Hello?" She knew who it was - or, well, knew who she hoped it was - but was in too big a rush to talk to her to check the caller ID. Moron.
"Heya, 's me." Amanda switched hands (and ears), as her palms suddenly got rather sweaty. "You all right? You sound out of breath."
"Hey! Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, just had to run to pick the phone up.." Bethany pushed herself back to her feet, moving over to quietly close her bedroom door. "Was starting to worry you weren't going to call, birthday girl."
"Sorry, had t' go yell at someone for bein' a pillock." Amanda relaxed at the sound of Bethany's voice, and the faint note of worry that had edged her last words. They were still talking, at least. "'S a regular thing in this place."
Bethany blinked slowly as she wandered back to her bed, sitting back down with her legs tucked up beneath herself. "Is it? That's kind of surprising. Hope they listened to you." She fell silent for a moment, lightly chewing on her lip, before letting out a quiet sigh. "It okay if I just blurt this out? It might not come out at all otherwise, but it really should.. though I guess it could wait 'til you're here.."
"It happens when you get a whole lot of stubborn bastards in the same place. Meself included. An' yeah, we're good now." A slightly smug _expression crossed Amanda's face. "He's gunna sleep for the next twelve hours, but he needs it." She shifted on her log perch, digging in her jacket pocket for her cigarettes. "Blurtin's good with me. I mean, I tend t' do stuff first without thinkin' 'bout it, an' then have t' deal with the fallout later, so it's probably better if you say what you want to an' we go on from there," she said, sounding far more calm and reassuring than she felt - she was getting good at that.
"Suppose having a lot of stubborn bastards in one place would do that, yeah," Bethany agreed, laughing lightly. "Good job on making him sleep, then, whoever it is." Of course, now that she has permission to blurt, she kind of has to, doesn't she? She made a bit of a face at herself, drawing in a deep breath as she focused her attention on her lap. "Okay. Blurting. Just don't hang up on me." Relax. This is Amanda you're talking to. What could go wrong? Unless you totally misjudged her character.. "You're cool with a 'friends with benefits' kind of arrangement, right? Because I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. Not that I'd complain if we decided to go for one later, since I like you so damn much, but.."
There was an amused - and relieved - chuckle down the phone. "Thank fuck for that," Amanda said. "An' yeah, I'm good with that sort of thing." She took a drag on the cigarette she'd managed to pull out of the pack and light one-handed whilst Bethany was talking, before speaking again, her tone a little more serious. "If we're bein' honest here, I should probably tell you I ain't that good at the proper relationship thing anyway. There's... stuff, that I'll tell you about one day, but not right now. But the upshot is I don't tend t' trust people easy, which is why it was so odd, meetin' you, 'cause you I trusted straight away." She realised she was waffling, and probably not making a lot of sense. "What I'm sayin' is, I'd like t' see you, but I ain't about t' declare we're soulmates or nothin'."
"Oh, thank God," Bethany laughed, flopping over onto her back and covering her eyes with a hand. After a moment spent giggling in relief, she sobered, though she made no effort to wipe the massive smile off of her face. She wouldn't have been able to if she tried. "I'm glad you trust me," she replied sincerely. "I trust you, too. Which, yeah, was weird for me too.. I mean, dad's a cop - suspicion kind of runs in the family, you know? We can be pleasantly surprised together, I guess." After a pause, she couldn't help beaming cheerfully, even if the distance made it a somewhat wasted effort. "So are we still on for Buffy? Guarantee you you'll like the witch, even if the magic is probably the most inaccurate shit you'll ever see."
"Yeah, we're still on. I could see if I can get someone t' take me into town on Thursday, if you like, tho' if yer dad's old bill, I ain't sure he's gunna let me in." Amanda's tone was humorous, but there was an edge of wariness there. But even the news that Bethany's family were police wasn't enough to kill her own happy grin. "I ain't exactly considered a good influence, y'know."
Bethany snickered, unable to help rolling her eyes. "Unless you show up with a dead body or a great big bag of drugs, sweetheart, the folks'll adore you. I promise."
"I'll leave the stash at home then, shall I?" Amanda replied with a laugh. "Right, I'll make with the cute face at Shinobi, see if he can't drop me 'round. An' I promise not t' throw things at the telly if the magic is really off."
"If it is really off, I'm sure we can figure out some way t'distract you," Bethany mused innocently, folding her free arm beneath her head to serve as a pillow. "We're smart. We're creative. Something'll occur to us."
"I'm sure somethin' will," Amanda replied, equally innocently. "Somethin' nice an' quiet an' don't involve snoggin' at all."
"No snogging? That limits us to sex, doesn't it?" Not that Bethany seems horribly bothered by that idea, with her sugar-sweet tone of voice and all.
"I s'pose it does. However shall we cope?" Amanda grinned wickedly, blowing smoke into the damp air and shifting on her seat - the log was getting uncomfortable.
"We'll worry about that bridge when we get to it," Bethany replied with a wicked grin of her own, lifting her head enough to peek towards the door. She's having fun - the laws of the universe dictate that something should come and ruin it, but so far, so good.
"Tease." Amanda chuckled. "You wouldn't be tryin' t' make me impatient for Thursday now, would you?"
"Whatever gives you that…" Bethany was interrupted by a knock on her door and her mother's voice calling her to dinner. "Shit, that's my mom. I have to go, baby. See you Thursday?"
"I'll be there with bells on, luv," Amanda promised.
April in Westchester reminded Amanda of home - cold and damp. She'd ignored the slight drizzle outside after she'd left Nate to sleep off his temporary insanity and had gone for a walk, both to clear her head and to get some privacy for what was going to be an interesting phone call, to say the least. For a while she'd simply wandered, summoning up the nerve, and then finally she'd found a seat on a damp, mossy stump and pulled out the phone Pete had organised for her upon her return. Her fingers trembled slightly as she pressed the buttons.
There was time for all of one ring - the amount of time it took Bethany to come tearing down the hallway and duck into her room, to take a flying leap across the bed and snatch her phone up off the nightstand. "Hello?" She knew who it was - or, well, knew who she hoped it was - but was in too big a rush to talk to her to check the caller ID. Moron.
"Heya, 's me." Amanda switched hands (and ears), as her palms suddenly got rather sweaty. "You all right? You sound out of breath."
"Hey! Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, just had to run to pick the phone up.." Bethany pushed herself back to her feet, moving over to quietly close her bedroom door. "Was starting to worry you weren't going to call, birthday girl."
"Sorry, had t' go yell at someone for bein' a pillock." Amanda relaxed at the sound of Bethany's voice, and the faint note of worry that had edged her last words. They were still talking, at least. "'S a regular thing in this place."
Bethany blinked slowly as she wandered back to her bed, sitting back down with her legs tucked up beneath herself. "Is it? That's kind of surprising. Hope they listened to you." She fell silent for a moment, lightly chewing on her lip, before letting out a quiet sigh. "It okay if I just blurt this out? It might not come out at all otherwise, but it really should.. though I guess it could wait 'til you're here.."
"It happens when you get a whole lot of stubborn bastards in the same place. Meself included. An' yeah, we're good now." A slightly smug _expression crossed Amanda's face. "He's gunna sleep for the next twelve hours, but he needs it." She shifted on her log perch, digging in her jacket pocket for her cigarettes. "Blurtin's good with me. I mean, I tend t' do stuff first without thinkin' 'bout it, an' then have t' deal with the fallout later, so it's probably better if you say what you want to an' we go on from there," she said, sounding far more calm and reassuring than she felt - she was getting good at that.
"Suppose having a lot of stubborn bastards in one place would do that, yeah," Bethany agreed, laughing lightly. "Good job on making him sleep, then, whoever it is." Of course, now that she has permission to blurt, she kind of has to, doesn't she? She made a bit of a face at herself, drawing in a deep breath as she focused her attention on her lap. "Okay. Blurting. Just don't hang up on me." Relax. This is Amanda you're talking to. What could go wrong? Unless you totally misjudged her character.. "You're cool with a 'friends with benefits' kind of arrangement, right? Because I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. Not that I'd complain if we decided to go for one later, since I like you so damn much, but.."
There was an amused - and relieved - chuckle down the phone. "Thank fuck for that," Amanda said. "An' yeah, I'm good with that sort of thing." She took a drag on the cigarette she'd managed to pull out of the pack and light one-handed whilst Bethany was talking, before speaking again, her tone a little more serious. "If we're bein' honest here, I should probably tell you I ain't that good at the proper relationship thing anyway. There's... stuff, that I'll tell you about one day, but not right now. But the upshot is I don't tend t' trust people easy, which is why it was so odd, meetin' you, 'cause you I trusted straight away." She realised she was waffling, and probably not making a lot of sense. "What I'm sayin' is, I'd like t' see you, but I ain't about t' declare we're soulmates or nothin'."
"Oh, thank God," Bethany laughed, flopping over onto her back and covering her eyes with a hand. After a moment spent giggling in relief, she sobered, though she made no effort to wipe the massive smile off of her face. She wouldn't have been able to if she tried. "I'm glad you trust me," she replied sincerely. "I trust you, too. Which, yeah, was weird for me too.. I mean, dad's a cop - suspicion kind of runs in the family, you know? We can be pleasantly surprised together, I guess." After a pause, she couldn't help beaming cheerfully, even if the distance made it a somewhat wasted effort. "So are we still on for Buffy? Guarantee you you'll like the witch, even if the magic is probably the most inaccurate shit you'll ever see."
"Yeah, we're still on. I could see if I can get someone t' take me into town on Thursday, if you like, tho' if yer dad's old bill, I ain't sure he's gunna let me in." Amanda's tone was humorous, but there was an edge of wariness there. But even the news that Bethany's family were police wasn't enough to kill her own happy grin. "I ain't exactly considered a good influence, y'know."
Bethany snickered, unable to help rolling her eyes. "Unless you show up with a dead body or a great big bag of drugs, sweetheart, the folks'll adore you. I promise."
"I'll leave the stash at home then, shall I?" Amanda replied with a laugh. "Right, I'll make with the cute face at Shinobi, see if he can't drop me 'round. An' I promise not t' throw things at the telly if the magic is really off."
"If it is really off, I'm sure we can figure out some way t'distract you," Bethany mused innocently, folding her free arm beneath her head to serve as a pillow. "We're smart. We're creative. Something'll occur to us."
"I'm sure somethin' will," Amanda replied, equally innocently. "Somethin' nice an' quiet an' don't involve snoggin' at all."
"No snogging? That limits us to sex, doesn't it?" Not that Bethany seems horribly bothered by that idea, with her sugar-sweet tone of voice and all.
"I s'pose it does. However shall we cope?" Amanda grinned wickedly, blowing smoke into the damp air and shifting on her seat - the log was getting uncomfortable.
"We'll worry about that bridge when we get to it," Bethany replied with a wicked grin of her own, lifting her head enough to peek towards the door. She's having fun - the laws of the universe dictate that something should come and ruin it, but so far, so good.
"Tease." Amanda chuckled. "You wouldn't be tryin' t' make me impatient for Thursday now, would you?"
"Whatever gives you that…" Bethany was interrupted by a knock on her door and her mother's voice calling her to dinner. "Shit, that's my mom. I have to go, baby. See you Thursday?"
"I'll be there with bells on, luv," Amanda promised.
