Amanda and Topaz - Bearing Tidings
Sep. 9th, 2024 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsAfter getting back from New Orleans, Amanda has unpleasant news for Topaz.
A "need to talk" text from Amanda could mean anything, and Topaz was deciding not to think about it. Instead she had gone back to doing what she had been doing before the text.
"I'm smarter than this bookshelf," she murmured, examining the directions for the Ikea bookshelf she had thought would be a good idea to buy. "I'm definitely smarter than a bookshelf."
She stayed cross-legged on her couch, staring at the instructions with no further comprehension, until her door opened. "I'm smarter than a bookshelf, right?" she asked Amanda without looking up.
"Definitely," came the reply. But where Amanda would usually sound amused, her voice was flat and tired-sounding and when she took a seat next to Topaz on the couch, she moved gingerly and leaned forward awkwardly. "Hey, padawan."
Topaz's head snapped up, eyes sharp as she looked at Amanda, taking in every detail. She knew that voice. She hated that voice. Her gaze flicked to Amanda's back, then back to Amanda's face. "What happened?" Her voice was as flat as her former teacher's.
Amanda started to shrug, winced, then continued as if nothing had happened. "Things got messy down in New Orleans, but we're all fine." The now went unspoken. "But there's something I need to tell you that you're not going to like." She grimaced. "Actually, you're going to hate it, I'm pretty sure."
"Right..." Topaz said slowly, looking at Amanda's back again.
"Remember how I told you about having Adam's memories in my head? And how they were getting mixed up with what I remembered from that fake world Roma sucked us into?" Amanda paused, not sure how to go on before plunging ahead. "I can't explain how exactly, but Tante Mattie kind of raised him - no, them, since it's not just the bad one - Tante raised him from the dead. " The last came out in a rush.
Raised him from the dead. Raised... Raised Adam from the dead. Tante raised Adam from the dead. Tante raised Adam Destine from the dead.
There was no visible reaction on Topaz's face as she put the thoughts together into something she could process. "Right," she repeated finally. "That's... so now what? Even if it's not just the bad one, he's still there, isn't he?"
"I honestly don't know. All I saw was the good one. But the bad one's gone from my head, so he must be mixed up in there somewhere." Amanda had started chewing on her thumbnail, a sure sign of her unsettled state of mind. "Tante's got him in hand - he's staying with her for the foreseeable. So whatever mix there is, she'll make sure he doesn't get up to anything." It was poor reassurance, given Tante's role in the whole thing in the first place.
"Right." Topaz finally looked away, her eyes falling on the instructions still in her hands. She hadn't realized her grip on the paper had tightened to the point of crumpling it. "Are you okay?"
Amanda was good at keeping her emotions muted, but Topaz wasn't blind to the anxiety, even without the physical display of it.
"I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
That wasn't a question Topaz really wanted to think about. Was she okay? Did it matter? "I don't know," was the answer she finally settled for, because sometimes honesty really was the best policy. "But I'm also not the one he nearly skewered to death."
"But you are the one he chased all over the place for years over a feud," Amanda pointed out. "And I've had plenty of time with him in my head to work through things. You've never really talked about it much."
She hadn't, and she certainly wasn't about to start now. "How did bringing him back from the dead even come up?"
"It didn't. Tante raised Garrison and as he's climbing out of his grave he's pulling Adam out with him." Despite her casual words, Amanda couldn't help shuddering a little at the emotions her retelling recalled. "She said something about needing to get him out of my head - he was screaming to get out, was the way she put it - and she combined Angie's projection powers with Jean's Phoenix and boom, naked Adam Destine climbing out of a hole." As she talked, Amanda picked a little at the broken blisters on her palms, souvenirs of digging the grave.
"...Right." Topaz kept her eyes down, still staring at the incomprehensible directions. Putting a bookshelf together was probably easier than raising someone from the dead. She shook off the errant thought. "And it's something that had to happen."
"Apparently. With Tante, it's hard to work out her motives. It's like she's got cliff notes to the universe that she doesn't share. But I do know if he hadn't been with us, things would have gone a lot worse."
"Then... it's fine, isn't it? I mean, it has to be. Even if we don't like it." Even if the idea of Adam Destine alive in any form made Topaz want to scream. She had been free, from all the fear and anxiety and constantly looking over her shoulder wondering if today would be the day he came back. She wasn't the same person she had been when he died, she wasn't a scared kid anymore, she could take care of herself, but all of that felt like it was falling away at the idea of facing the original monster under her bed.
But it had to happen, so none of it mattered.
"It's fine."
"It's not. Not for you, not for Angie, or any of the other people he hurt." Amanda finally half-turned to look Topaz in the face. "And it's okay that it's not fine. None of this is fine. And I know some of this is my fault and you can totally blame me. Just... don't shut yourself away? Talk to someone?"
There was a sleepy mew from the Ikea box and Midnight's head peered over the edge at them and despite the tension of the situation, Amanda smiled.
"See? Midnight agrees with me."
"I'm not... bloody hell, Amanda." Topaz covered her face for a moment, taking a deep breath to gather her thoughts, before she faced Amanda. "Which part of this exactly is your fault? The memories you didn't ask for? The fact that you didn't find some impossible answer for how to take care of them sooner? The entire world Roma created? The rewritten history with Adam? What would I even blame you for?"
Midnight jumped up on the back of the couch, probably looking for treats and distracting Topaz for a moment. Her voice was decidedly calmer as she spoke again. "I'm not blaming you for anything, all right? If you want me to talk to someone, then you don't get to take blame for any of this. And if you won't listen to me, I'll tell Marie-Ange, and she can lecture you."
"Anything but that!" Amanda replied in mock-horror, reaching stiffly up to scritch Midnight's cheek. "All right, deal. No blame and no hiding."
"Deal." Topaz leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, thinking. "So you... got hurt in New Orleans, presumably drove straight here without making more stops than absolutely and necessary, and came right up to talk to me I'm guessing. You sure you don't need the med lab or anything?"
"Jean made sure I got the onceover before we drove back. And I wasn't allowed to drive." Amanda snorted. "It's not serious, just uncomfortable - the channelling spell got a bit of a workout and my back's basically got a nasty sunburn."
"Too uncomfortable for a quick cuppa before you leave?"
"Never. I'd have to be dead for that."
A "need to talk" text from Amanda could mean anything, and Topaz was deciding not to think about it. Instead she had gone back to doing what she had been doing before the text.
"I'm smarter than this bookshelf," she murmured, examining the directions for the Ikea bookshelf she had thought would be a good idea to buy. "I'm definitely smarter than a bookshelf."
She stayed cross-legged on her couch, staring at the instructions with no further comprehension, until her door opened. "I'm smarter than a bookshelf, right?" she asked Amanda without looking up.
"Definitely," came the reply. But where Amanda would usually sound amused, her voice was flat and tired-sounding and when she took a seat next to Topaz on the couch, she moved gingerly and leaned forward awkwardly. "Hey, padawan."
Topaz's head snapped up, eyes sharp as she looked at Amanda, taking in every detail. She knew that voice. She hated that voice. Her gaze flicked to Amanda's back, then back to Amanda's face. "What happened?" Her voice was as flat as her former teacher's.
Amanda started to shrug, winced, then continued as if nothing had happened. "Things got messy down in New Orleans, but we're all fine." The now went unspoken. "But there's something I need to tell you that you're not going to like." She grimaced. "Actually, you're going to hate it, I'm pretty sure."
"Right..." Topaz said slowly, looking at Amanda's back again.
"Remember how I told you about having Adam's memories in my head? And how they were getting mixed up with what I remembered from that fake world Roma sucked us into?" Amanda paused, not sure how to go on before plunging ahead. "I can't explain how exactly, but Tante Mattie kind of raised him - no, them, since it's not just the bad one - Tante raised him from the dead. " The last came out in a rush.
Raised him from the dead. Raised... Raised Adam from the dead. Tante raised Adam from the dead. Tante raised Adam Destine from the dead.
There was no visible reaction on Topaz's face as she put the thoughts together into something she could process. "Right," she repeated finally. "That's... so now what? Even if it's not just the bad one, he's still there, isn't he?"
"I honestly don't know. All I saw was the good one. But the bad one's gone from my head, so he must be mixed up in there somewhere." Amanda had started chewing on her thumbnail, a sure sign of her unsettled state of mind. "Tante's got him in hand - he's staying with her for the foreseeable. So whatever mix there is, she'll make sure he doesn't get up to anything." It was poor reassurance, given Tante's role in the whole thing in the first place.
"Right." Topaz finally looked away, her eyes falling on the instructions still in her hands. She hadn't realized her grip on the paper had tightened to the point of crumpling it. "Are you okay?"
Amanda was good at keeping her emotions muted, but Topaz wasn't blind to the anxiety, even without the physical display of it.
"I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
That wasn't a question Topaz really wanted to think about. Was she okay? Did it matter? "I don't know," was the answer she finally settled for, because sometimes honesty really was the best policy. "But I'm also not the one he nearly skewered to death."
"But you are the one he chased all over the place for years over a feud," Amanda pointed out. "And I've had plenty of time with him in my head to work through things. You've never really talked about it much."
She hadn't, and she certainly wasn't about to start now. "How did bringing him back from the dead even come up?"
"It didn't. Tante raised Garrison and as he's climbing out of his grave he's pulling Adam out with him." Despite her casual words, Amanda couldn't help shuddering a little at the emotions her retelling recalled. "She said something about needing to get him out of my head - he was screaming to get out, was the way she put it - and she combined Angie's projection powers with Jean's Phoenix and boom, naked Adam Destine climbing out of a hole." As she talked, Amanda picked a little at the broken blisters on her palms, souvenirs of digging the grave.
"...Right." Topaz kept her eyes down, still staring at the incomprehensible directions. Putting a bookshelf together was probably easier than raising someone from the dead. She shook off the errant thought. "And it's something that had to happen."
"Apparently. With Tante, it's hard to work out her motives. It's like she's got cliff notes to the universe that she doesn't share. But I do know if he hadn't been with us, things would have gone a lot worse."
"Then... it's fine, isn't it? I mean, it has to be. Even if we don't like it." Even if the idea of Adam Destine alive in any form made Topaz want to scream. She had been free, from all the fear and anxiety and constantly looking over her shoulder wondering if today would be the day he came back. She wasn't the same person she had been when he died, she wasn't a scared kid anymore, she could take care of herself, but all of that felt like it was falling away at the idea of facing the original monster under her bed.
But it had to happen, so none of it mattered.
"It's fine."
"It's not. Not for you, not for Angie, or any of the other people he hurt." Amanda finally half-turned to look Topaz in the face. "And it's okay that it's not fine. None of this is fine. And I know some of this is my fault and you can totally blame me. Just... don't shut yourself away? Talk to someone?"
There was a sleepy mew from the Ikea box and Midnight's head peered over the edge at them and despite the tension of the situation, Amanda smiled.
"See? Midnight agrees with me."
"I'm not... bloody hell, Amanda." Topaz covered her face for a moment, taking a deep breath to gather her thoughts, before she faced Amanda. "Which part of this exactly is your fault? The memories you didn't ask for? The fact that you didn't find some impossible answer for how to take care of them sooner? The entire world Roma created? The rewritten history with Adam? What would I even blame you for?"
Midnight jumped up on the back of the couch, probably looking for treats and distracting Topaz for a moment. Her voice was decidedly calmer as she spoke again. "I'm not blaming you for anything, all right? If you want me to talk to someone, then you don't get to take blame for any of this. And if you won't listen to me, I'll tell Marie-Ange, and she can lecture you."
"Anything but that!" Amanda replied in mock-horror, reaching stiffly up to scritch Midnight's cheek. "All right, deal. No blame and no hiding."
"Deal." Topaz leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, thinking. "So you... got hurt in New Orleans, presumably drove straight here without making more stops than absolutely and necessary, and came right up to talk to me I'm guessing. You sure you don't need the med lab or anything?"
"Jean made sure I got the onceover before we drove back. And I wasn't allowed to drive." Amanda snorted. "It's not serious, just uncomfortable - the channelling spell got a bit of a workout and my back's basically got a nasty sunburn."
"Too uncomfortable for a quick cuppa before you leave?"
"Never. I'd have to be dead for that."
