Amanda, Nathan - dawn, Wednesday morning
Jul. 7th, 2004 05:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsNathan comes across Amanda by the lake during his morning run. They talk about meditation and the like, before Nate acts on impulse and shows off a bit. Fluffy fun.
It was a fairly well-concealed fact that Amanda was an early riser. Not by choice - a lot of rituals, even the darker ones Rack practiced, placed importance on dawn. She'd been trained over the years to need not a lot of sleep, and it was a hard habit to break. Even with Manuel providing an ample excuse to stay in bed, she still occasionally slipped out for a spot of peace and quiet by the lake.
As was usual when things had been tense in the mansion, she was practicing Romany's meditation drills. The rising sun was warm on her face - it was going to be another very warm day - and sparkled off the crystals of the charm around her neck as she sat cross-legged on the dock, eyes closed and concentrating on her breathing. Still dressed in what passed for sleepwear - dark purple cotton drawstring pants and one of Manuel's tank tops, way too big for her, she looked very young, like any other teenage girl. Apart from the fact she was in fact floating several inches above the weathered wood of the dock, that is.
Nathan, coming out of the woods at the best approximation of a jog that he could manage after four kilometers, saw her on the dock and staggered to a stop, limping over as quietly as he could. He stopped a short distance away, watching her with interest and trying to ignore the way his leg was trying to buckle under him.
Light, so light... Amanda focussed on the sensation of floating. Romany had given her the drills as a way of honing her ability to concentrate, to think about the consequences of her actions rather than just react. Something she'd let slip in the past few weeks. The school had a habit of catching her up in events, seemingly without control. She breathed in again, going for another inch or two, when she sensed a shift in the energies around her. A very big shift - she smiled and let herself sink back onto the deck. Only one person carried that much energy in one place. "~Bright the sun, elder brother~" she said, without looking behind her. She uncrossed her legs, wincing a little at the pins and needles.
"~I didn't intend to interrupt you,~" Nathan said, smiling as he hobbled forward onto the dock and lowered himself down beside her gratefully, stretching the bad leg out with a wince. "You were meditating," he said, switching to English. "It was... interesting to see." He smiled a bit sheepishly. "Telepathically speaking, I mean."
"'S somethin' Rom taught me back in March. T' let meself just stop for a while, get me breath back, so t' speak. I've been a bit slack in keepin' it up since the Europe trip." Amanda gave him a grin as he sat down beside her. "Doesn't fit in with the image none, I know, me meditatin'. But it helps me think 'bout stuff later, an' helps me ground meself. Important, with the magic - things get out of control if I can't focus." She tilted her head at him. "Still on the whole gettin' back in shape kick?"
"It's not a kick," he said solemnly, though his lips were twitching. "It's a holy cause." Amanda snickered at him, and he went on more easily. "Grounding yourself... I'm supposed to be practicing some of the meditation exercises Moira taught me years ago, to see if I can't start getting to sleep naturally. Not that I mind my favorite drug dealer coming to visit me every evening..."
"Not that I mind doin' it, but yeah, you probably should work on sleepin' on yer own. The potion's ain't addictive, but there's that whole psychological addiction thing." She chuckled at the surprised look on his face at the way she'd put it. "Samson 'n me talk 'bout that stuff a lot, tryin' t' help with me problem," she explained. "It ain't just the physical addiction, 's the emotional shite. So, relyin' on somethin' - anythin' - t' help you do somethin' that you should be doin' any way... it ain't a good long term thing." She shrugged a little. "Least, that's how I understand it."
Nathan nodded in agreement. "I don't want to be dependent, period," he said firmly. Amanda blinked at him, and he wondered if he'd maybe overstated the case a little there. "Moira taught me to meditate when I was first infected with the virus," he went on. "I was having trouble sleeping back then, too."
"Dependency bad," she agreed. Nathan was definitely not the dependent type. Which made sense of his determination to get back in shape. "She helped you a lot with all that, didn't she?" she asked, curious.
"She saved my life," Nathan said simply, then thought about it a little more. "Probably my sanity, too," he said with a bit of a smile. "Even if I hadn't been more or less terminally ill, my conditioning had fractured enough that my head was in a hell of a mess. She helped me pull it together."
"I can imagine. If anyone could do it, it'd be her. Too stubborn t' give up." Amanda remembered Moira's determination to help her through the worst of the addiction, and felt a small pang of remorse for the way she'd treated her in return. And gratitude - the doctor had been a bigger help in the months since than she let on.
Nathan couldn't help a broader smile, one of those hopelessly goofy, lovestruck grins that Amanda would undoubtedly find very amusing. "Don't worry," he said, picking up on her stray thought. "She still considers me her greatest challenge. I wouldn't even talk to her for the first week." He kneaded lightly, almost absently at the muscles in his upper leg. "I'll be so glad to be back in some semblance of shape," he commented idly. "My reflexes will be the last thing to come back, but I can't really work on those until I get fully mobile again."
"Yer healin' up pretty fast, even takin' the magic into account," Amanda said. Her senses still heightened from the meditation, she could 'see' the residual damage and pain, but considering how badly he'd been hurt... She knew better than to say anything about speeding the process up. Besides, she was focussing on Pete at the moment, and didn't have the energy to spare, not without risking another round of bollockings from just about everyone.
"After a certain point, it can actually be mind over matter," Nathan said seriously. "And I have a very high pain threshold, which makes things easier." She looked doubtful, and he laughed. "What, you thought I didn't like taking pain medication just because I'm masochistic and phobic about drugs?"
"Well, yeah. You tryin' t' tell me you ain't?" she asked, grinning and pushing the strap of the tanktop back onto her shoulder as it slipped down. The lack of reaction from anyone about the scars had done wonders to boost her confidence about them. She wasn't about to go out and buy a bikini, but she'd stopped flinching every time someone glanced at them. "An' I get you 'bout the mind over matter thing. Amazin' what the body can do if you push it hard enough. Just don't push it too hard, all right? Some pain's the good sort, but you don't want t' go tearin' any tendons. Those are a bastard t' fix, my way or the usual way."
Nathan managed not to laugh in her face. "Oh, I shouldn't push myself, should I?" he inquired innocently. Amanda colored a little, and this time a chuckle did slip out. "Don't worry about me, trouble. Gotten myself back from worse than this. I know precisely how hard I can push." He took a deep breath, letting himself relax as he stared out at the sunrise. "This is a good time of day," he said. It had been a good idea, to start doing his requisite 5K in the mornings before his sessions with Manuel. He found it helped his attitude enormously.
"That ain't the same... oh all right, you got me there." Amanda knew when she didn't have a leg to stand on and conceded defeat. "But don't whinge t' me when Moira chews yer ears off if you _do_ overdo it." Her grin told him she wasn't serious, and she nodded her agreement at his last statement. "It is. New day an' all that. There's a reason most purification rituals are dawn ones. Well, that an' the fact whoever made 'em were sadistic bastards who liked the idea of makin' people dunk 'emselves in a stream at the crack of dawn in the middle of winter." She shuddered a little at the memory. "Another reason t' keep me nose clean - less need for those sort of things."
"The first couple of years I was in New Mexico, I used to sneak off every chance I got and watch the sun rise over the desert," Nathan mused, surprised by the twinge of real nostalgia he felt at the memory. "Or the stars. Hell, I just liked to spend as much time on the roof of the facility as possible. Things were much less complicated up there."
"You should try the flyin' platform sometime - 's where I go for a fag when I don't feel like bein' sociable, or just want some peace an' quiet. 'S the thing 'bout bein' off the beaten track here - you can really see the stars. Not like home - most places're too bright." As if reminded by the mention, Amanda absently felt for her cigarettes, and realised that as she was still in her pyjamas, she had no pockets. "I really envy Warren an' Marie - I love t' fly, only the spell takes more power 'n I'm allowed t' have. Most I can manage now is a little bit of levitation."
Nathan grinned at her suddenly, getting to his feet. "Stand up," he said briskly. When she did, blinking at him, he scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her startled yelp. "Now, don't go poking me in the ribs or anything," he admonished her as he floated smoothly up into the air. "I would really hate to drop you in the lake. I seem to get into so much trouble when students wind up in the lake." He let them spin lazily in the air as they continued to float upwards. "It's not quite flying," he said brightly. "Though I can mimic it pretty damned well if I want."
"I didn't know... fuck, this is just yer TK?" Amanda's expression was full of delighted surprise. "I mean, I knew you were strong, but I thought it was more blowin' shite up..." She was probably waking Manuel up with the rush of pure joy she was sending down the link, but she figured it was a good kind of awakening.
"Just my TK," Nathan affirmed, grinning as he swooped down over the lake, close enough that his heels nearly brushed the water as he pulled back up again. Amanda, despite the firm grip she had on him, was beaming from ear to ear. "I don't generally fly, though. It's overly conspicuous. Usually I just use the TK to... extend my physical capabilities a little. Walking up walls, jumping from roof to roof... that sort of thing."
"What, no cape an' wearin' yer underwear on the outside as you fly t' help the helpless?" Amanda asked, giggling at the mental image, and making sure she had a good hold on him just in case he decided a morning dip was needed after all.
"Bite your tongue," he scolded her, levitating them upwards in a spiral. "Do I look the part?"
In response she projected a mental image of him in traditional comic-book superhero costume, all bright primary colours and Spandex, unable to speak now for laughing. This would be worth a dunking, if he decided to risk the trouble.
Nathan laughed and then tossed her lightly away. She shrieked, but then stared at him, wide-eyed, as she continued to float. "I'm imagining a floor beneath your feet," Nathan said, lowering her gently to the invisible floor and then following suit. "Walk around a little, if you want." They were about two hundred feet above the ground, he judged.
Cautiously, Amanda tried a couple of steps, peering down at the lake beneath them. When she didn't fall,
she looked up at Nate, delighted. "This is so fuckin' brilliant!" she exclaimed, beaming at him. "I mean, I've flown with Warren, an' that was pretty wicked, but this..." She hazarded a small skip in her excitement, laughing out loud and sounding very much younger than her seventeen years.
Acting on impulse was occasionally a very good thing, Nathan thought smugly, grinning back at her. "You know," he drawled, "I am equally capable of creating a really nifty telekinetic waterslide."
Amanda looked down at her pyjamas, shrugged and gave him a grin. "What the hell. 'S comin' up for laundry day any way."
It was a fairly well-concealed fact that Amanda was an early riser. Not by choice - a lot of rituals, even the darker ones Rack practiced, placed importance on dawn. She'd been trained over the years to need not a lot of sleep, and it was a hard habit to break. Even with Manuel providing an ample excuse to stay in bed, she still occasionally slipped out for a spot of peace and quiet by the lake.
As was usual when things had been tense in the mansion, she was practicing Romany's meditation drills. The rising sun was warm on her face - it was going to be another very warm day - and sparkled off the crystals of the charm around her neck as she sat cross-legged on the dock, eyes closed and concentrating on her breathing. Still dressed in what passed for sleepwear - dark purple cotton drawstring pants and one of Manuel's tank tops, way too big for her, she looked very young, like any other teenage girl. Apart from the fact she was in fact floating several inches above the weathered wood of the dock, that is.
Nathan, coming out of the woods at the best approximation of a jog that he could manage after four kilometers, saw her on the dock and staggered to a stop, limping over as quietly as he could. He stopped a short distance away, watching her with interest and trying to ignore the way his leg was trying to buckle under him.
Light, so light... Amanda focussed on the sensation of floating. Romany had given her the drills as a way of honing her ability to concentrate, to think about the consequences of her actions rather than just react. Something she'd let slip in the past few weeks. The school had a habit of catching her up in events, seemingly without control. She breathed in again, going for another inch or two, when she sensed a shift in the energies around her. A very big shift - she smiled and let herself sink back onto the deck. Only one person carried that much energy in one place. "~Bright the sun, elder brother~" she said, without looking behind her. She uncrossed her legs, wincing a little at the pins and needles.
"~I didn't intend to interrupt you,~" Nathan said, smiling as he hobbled forward onto the dock and lowered himself down beside her gratefully, stretching the bad leg out with a wince. "You were meditating," he said, switching to English. "It was... interesting to see." He smiled a bit sheepishly. "Telepathically speaking, I mean."
"'S somethin' Rom taught me back in March. T' let meself just stop for a while, get me breath back, so t' speak. I've been a bit slack in keepin' it up since the Europe trip." Amanda gave him a grin as he sat down beside her. "Doesn't fit in with the image none, I know, me meditatin'. But it helps me think 'bout stuff later, an' helps me ground meself. Important, with the magic - things get out of control if I can't focus." She tilted her head at him. "Still on the whole gettin' back in shape kick?"
"It's not a kick," he said solemnly, though his lips were twitching. "It's a holy cause." Amanda snickered at him, and he went on more easily. "Grounding yourself... I'm supposed to be practicing some of the meditation exercises Moira taught me years ago, to see if I can't start getting to sleep naturally. Not that I mind my favorite drug dealer coming to visit me every evening..."
"Not that I mind doin' it, but yeah, you probably should work on sleepin' on yer own. The potion's ain't addictive, but there's that whole psychological addiction thing." She chuckled at the surprised look on his face at the way she'd put it. "Samson 'n me talk 'bout that stuff a lot, tryin' t' help with me problem," she explained. "It ain't just the physical addiction, 's the emotional shite. So, relyin' on somethin' - anythin' - t' help you do somethin' that you should be doin' any way... it ain't a good long term thing." She shrugged a little. "Least, that's how I understand it."
Nathan nodded in agreement. "I don't want to be dependent, period," he said firmly. Amanda blinked at him, and he wondered if he'd maybe overstated the case a little there. "Moira taught me to meditate when I was first infected with the virus," he went on. "I was having trouble sleeping back then, too."
"Dependency bad," she agreed. Nathan was definitely not the dependent type. Which made sense of his determination to get back in shape. "She helped you a lot with all that, didn't she?" she asked, curious.
"She saved my life," Nathan said simply, then thought about it a little more. "Probably my sanity, too," he said with a bit of a smile. "Even if I hadn't been more or less terminally ill, my conditioning had fractured enough that my head was in a hell of a mess. She helped me pull it together."
"I can imagine. If anyone could do it, it'd be her. Too stubborn t' give up." Amanda remembered Moira's determination to help her through the worst of the addiction, and felt a small pang of remorse for the way she'd treated her in return. And gratitude - the doctor had been a bigger help in the months since than she let on.
Nathan couldn't help a broader smile, one of those hopelessly goofy, lovestruck grins that Amanda would undoubtedly find very amusing. "Don't worry," he said, picking up on her stray thought. "She still considers me her greatest challenge. I wouldn't even talk to her for the first week." He kneaded lightly, almost absently at the muscles in his upper leg. "I'll be so glad to be back in some semblance of shape," he commented idly. "My reflexes will be the last thing to come back, but I can't really work on those until I get fully mobile again."
"Yer healin' up pretty fast, even takin' the magic into account," Amanda said. Her senses still heightened from the meditation, she could 'see' the residual damage and pain, but considering how badly he'd been hurt... She knew better than to say anything about speeding the process up. Besides, she was focussing on Pete at the moment, and didn't have the energy to spare, not without risking another round of bollockings from just about everyone.
"After a certain point, it can actually be mind over matter," Nathan said seriously. "And I have a very high pain threshold, which makes things easier." She looked doubtful, and he laughed. "What, you thought I didn't like taking pain medication just because I'm masochistic and phobic about drugs?"
"Well, yeah. You tryin' t' tell me you ain't?" she asked, grinning and pushing the strap of the tanktop back onto her shoulder as it slipped down. The lack of reaction from anyone about the scars had done wonders to boost her confidence about them. She wasn't about to go out and buy a bikini, but she'd stopped flinching every time someone glanced at them. "An' I get you 'bout the mind over matter thing. Amazin' what the body can do if you push it hard enough. Just don't push it too hard, all right? Some pain's the good sort, but you don't want t' go tearin' any tendons. Those are a bastard t' fix, my way or the usual way."
Nathan managed not to laugh in her face. "Oh, I shouldn't push myself, should I?" he inquired innocently. Amanda colored a little, and this time a chuckle did slip out. "Don't worry about me, trouble. Gotten myself back from worse than this. I know precisely how hard I can push." He took a deep breath, letting himself relax as he stared out at the sunrise. "This is a good time of day," he said. It had been a good idea, to start doing his requisite 5K in the mornings before his sessions with Manuel. He found it helped his attitude enormously.
"That ain't the same... oh all right, you got me there." Amanda knew when she didn't have a leg to stand on and conceded defeat. "But don't whinge t' me when Moira chews yer ears off if you _do_ overdo it." Her grin told him she wasn't serious, and she nodded her agreement at his last statement. "It is. New day an' all that. There's a reason most purification rituals are dawn ones. Well, that an' the fact whoever made 'em were sadistic bastards who liked the idea of makin' people dunk 'emselves in a stream at the crack of dawn in the middle of winter." She shuddered a little at the memory. "Another reason t' keep me nose clean - less need for those sort of things."
"The first couple of years I was in New Mexico, I used to sneak off every chance I got and watch the sun rise over the desert," Nathan mused, surprised by the twinge of real nostalgia he felt at the memory. "Or the stars. Hell, I just liked to spend as much time on the roof of the facility as possible. Things were much less complicated up there."
"You should try the flyin' platform sometime - 's where I go for a fag when I don't feel like bein' sociable, or just want some peace an' quiet. 'S the thing 'bout bein' off the beaten track here - you can really see the stars. Not like home - most places're too bright." As if reminded by the mention, Amanda absently felt for her cigarettes, and realised that as she was still in her pyjamas, she had no pockets. "I really envy Warren an' Marie - I love t' fly, only the spell takes more power 'n I'm allowed t' have. Most I can manage now is a little bit of levitation."
Nathan grinned at her suddenly, getting to his feet. "Stand up," he said briskly. When she did, blinking at him, he scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her startled yelp. "Now, don't go poking me in the ribs or anything," he admonished her as he floated smoothly up into the air. "I would really hate to drop you in the lake. I seem to get into so much trouble when students wind up in the lake." He let them spin lazily in the air as they continued to float upwards. "It's not quite flying," he said brightly. "Though I can mimic it pretty damned well if I want."
"I didn't know... fuck, this is just yer TK?" Amanda's expression was full of delighted surprise. "I mean, I knew you were strong, but I thought it was more blowin' shite up..." She was probably waking Manuel up with the rush of pure joy she was sending down the link, but she figured it was a good kind of awakening.
"Just my TK," Nathan affirmed, grinning as he swooped down over the lake, close enough that his heels nearly brushed the water as he pulled back up again. Amanda, despite the firm grip she had on him, was beaming from ear to ear. "I don't generally fly, though. It's overly conspicuous. Usually I just use the TK to... extend my physical capabilities a little. Walking up walls, jumping from roof to roof... that sort of thing."
"What, no cape an' wearin' yer underwear on the outside as you fly t' help the helpless?" Amanda asked, giggling at the mental image, and making sure she had a good hold on him just in case he decided a morning dip was needed after all.
"Bite your tongue," he scolded her, levitating them upwards in a spiral. "Do I look the part?"
In response she projected a mental image of him in traditional comic-book superhero costume, all bright primary colours and Spandex, unable to speak now for laughing. This would be worth a dunking, if he decided to risk the trouble.
Nathan laughed and then tossed her lightly away. She shrieked, but then stared at him, wide-eyed, as she continued to float. "I'm imagining a floor beneath your feet," Nathan said, lowering her gently to the invisible floor and then following suit. "Walk around a little, if you want." They were about two hundred feet above the ground, he judged.
Cautiously, Amanda tried a couple of steps, peering down at the lake beneath them. When she didn't fall,
she looked up at Nate, delighted. "This is so fuckin' brilliant!" she exclaimed, beaming at him. "I mean, I've flown with Warren, an' that was pretty wicked, but this..." She hazarded a small skip in her excitement, laughing out loud and sounding very much younger than her seventeen years.
Acting on impulse was occasionally a very good thing, Nathan thought smugly, grinning back at her. "You know," he drawled, "I am equally capable of creating a really nifty telekinetic waterslide."
Amanda looked down at her pyjamas, shrugged and gave him a grin. "What the hell. 'S comin' up for laundry day any way."
