LOG: Amanda and Manuel - The King of Spain

[x-empath.livejournal.com]

Who: Amanda Sefton, Manuel de la Rocha, Alphonso de la Rocha
Where: Spain
When: June 15th
What Happens: Familial reunions. Alphonso's a skeeve. Amanda gets harrassed.



***

As soon as the plane touched down, Manuel's grin appeared on his face as if biosculpted there. "I can't wait." he said, practically bouncing in his chair. "We'll have a man waiting for us to drive us to the house." He tucked his trademarked white iPod earbuds into his travel bag, and arranged the rest of his things for landing. "Don't worry. This will go just fine." he told the visibly nervous Amanda.

"Easy for you t' say," she muttered, but she couldn't help smiling at his bouncing, and at the feelings coming down the link. She shoved her book (Nate's Mandarin text, already a tad dog-eared after much use on various flights over the past week and a bit) into the small backpack she'd acquired as carry-on luggage and tried to calm the butterflies - no, bats, great big ones - in her stomach, chewing on already-non-existent fingernails without noticing.

"Hey, don't make me settle you down the hard way." he said as the plane landed. The sweet, sweet sounds of Castillian landing instructions floated through the cabin, and Manuel's grin got even wider. "It's so good to be back _home_. I survived Brighton and Romany, you can handle Alphonso for a day. I've already arranged private accomodations outside of the House - if things go badly, we can flee back to that." he said. "We'll be fine - Alphonso doesn't even know who you are."

Amanda realised she was just about drawing blood with the nail biting, and tucked both hands under her legs, waiting for the plane to disembark. The announcements were mostly incomprehensible, but she managed to recognise a couple of words. "'M tempted t' let you calm me down," she said with a shaky laugh. She focused on the link and what he was feeling, to distract herself from her own nerves, and that helped somewhat. "So, how're you introducin' me again?"

Manuel looked over his dark, dark sunglasses at Amanda, and his eyes glowed red for a second as he took as much of her nervousness as he could away from her. "Better?" he asked considerately. "You are being introduced as Amanda, of the Brighton Seftons. He'll have no idea that there really are no such things, and it sounds better. Just - be you. Don't try to be me, don't try to act how you think you should be - just be you. Everything will go just fine. I know it will." he said with an air of confidence that he only half-felt. "Come _on_ already." he muttered at the line of not-disembarking passengers who were standing in the aisles, gathering their things from the overhead compartments, and yakking with their travel-mates. Often all at the same time.

Her shoulders relaxing at the touch of Manuel's power, Amanda took a deep breath, glad to be feeling something other than imminent panic. "Be me. I can do that," she said with a grin, and resisted the temptation to see just how many tourists she could telekinetically shove down the aisle and out of the way.

The crowd to get off the plane _finally_ started moving, and Manuel was sorely tempted for a minute to his his power to expedite things. An empathic warning nudge from Amanda stopped him, and so he waited to depart just like an ordinary person. However, once out of the airplane and into the airport, he grinned widely as he spotted a man in an immaculate grey suit, holding a discreet sign with his name on it. "Ah, good. Retrieve our bags. Where are you parked?" he asked the man in Castillian, who proceeded to tell him. "Good. We'll meet you there. Our things are labelled, you should have no problems."

If Manuel's grin got any wider, his head would fall off, thought Amanda with amusement as she let him lead her through the airport and a bewildering babble of Castillian, where only the occasional word came through. It was hot outside once they left the airconditioned confines of the airport, and she was glad when Manuel stopped at the car.

Manuel gestured to the this-year's-model Bentley. "Our ride awaits." he said with the aforementioned skull-splitting grin. Leaning in close, he whispered into her ear "The man who was sent to get us was one of my mother's. Someone's sending a message, trying to get me off-balance.". Still smiling, he opened the door so that Amanda could climb into the car. "After you." he said charmingly.

Sliding into the car, Amanda frowned a little. This was a whole new world to her, and she didn't just mean the wealth that was so obviously displayed in the richly-appointed car, or the fact Manuel spoke so easily of servants. Messages, intrigue, family politics... it was all so very foreign. In a way she was glad to be meeting Alphonso in person - at least she could always cheat and read his aura if things got too confusing. "You all right?" she asked, as he climbed into the car after her.

"I'm just fine." he said, sending a CAUTION feeling down their link. "I can't wait to go home. This will be the first time in five years or so that I've been home." He leaned back and put his hand on Amanda's leg, staring out the window as the driver slid into the driver's seat and started the car. The trip to Alphonso's residence took perhaps an hour or so, and Manuel's stomach rumbled throughout most of the trip. The driver didn't say a word, but instead stole glances at the pair in the back seat when he thought they weren't looking.

For her part, Amanda spent most of the time watching the Spanish countryside flash by the windows, doing her best not to be too much the tourist with the gawking. Otherwise she made small talk with Manuel, using his emotional cues down the link as a guide to topics - the weather, the trip so far, their return at the end of the week... Anything to distract herself from the tension that was threatening to return despite Manuel's powers.

The car pulled into a private driveway, and Manuel released a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "We're there." he said quietly, giving Amanda's leg a squeeze. "It has been a long time. Good to know he's cleaned the place up somewhat." The grounds are well-tended, with only a few imperfections marring the trimmed and planned expanse of green. The house itself was enormous - three stories tall and sprawled out over most of a half-acre. When the car stopped and the driver opened the doors, Manuel stepped out of the car and then turned to take Amanda's hand. "Ready?" he asked with a cocky grin. "Remember what I told you. Just be yourself. We'll go into the main hall, then if I know Alphonso he's probably in the study."

"Ready." Amanda shoved aside the residual nervousness and the voice in her head that was saying there was no way she should be here, in these surroundings, and drew on all of her training to control her expression, putting on the tough street kid mask she'd pretty much abandoned by now. Manuel's own tension thrummed through her from the contact with his hand as he led the way up the front steps and into the shady interior.

Manuel grinned as he saw Amanda take up her mask. "That's just perfect." he said with a grin, then escorted her into the interior. The inside of the house was a veritable blast of masculinity - all dark woods and somber colors, the lighting yellow and indirect. "This way." he said, escorting Amanda down the Hall and to a oak-panelled door. Turning the doorknob, he opened up the door into a room as big as the Mansion's library, shelved floor-to-ceiling with books. A monstrously large antique desk sat near the back wall, and behind the desk sat an older man, busy scribbling something down on the paperwork in front of him. The older man didn't look up or acknowledge the interloper's presence in any way. "Alphonso, I have returned." Manuel said, his voice hard and pitched to project.

Manuel's grip on her hand had tightened upon seeing his father, and whilst his voice and face were neutral, his emotions were a roiling confusion down the link. Screening the mess as much as she could, Amanda watched silently as the man continued his writing, then, finishing, carefully lay down the pen and looked up.

"Ah, good. You have arrived." said the man, in rich smooth tones. He had the voice of a master salesman who could sell iceboxes to Eskimos. "It has been a long time, Manuel. And who is this that you have brought with you? Come in, come in, let me see both of you." he said, standing and coming around to the other side of the desk. Then, smiling, the man stepped up and hugged Manuel, hard, and kissed him on both cheeks.

Manuel endured the hug and the kisses, then smiled at his father. "Alphonso, this is Amanda, of the Brighton Seftons. Amanda, this is Alphonso Rodrigo Domingo de la Rocha, seventeenth of that name, Lord of house de la Rocha, and my father." he said in a formal tone, then stepped aside slightly. Over the link, he projected confidence just to make sure everything went well.

~Pleased to meet you,~ she said in Basque, as Manuel had taught her, then switched back to English, thickening her accent deliberately. "Nice place yer've got 'ere." She thrust out her hand for him to shake, privately deciding that if he went for the hugs and kisses, she wasn't going to be responsible for her actions. The man was altogether too much like Rack for her comfort.

Alphonso blinked at Amanda, but covered his surprise with the experience of years of practice. He shook her hand with a warm, hard grip. "The pleasure is all mine." he said, lowering his head to kiss the back of her hand. "Come in, please, sit down. We have so much to talk about, I think. I want to know everything." He motioned to two chairs before the desk, and he himself went to a side-table and poured three glasses of Scotch into cut-crystal tumblers. "A drink?" he asked smoothing, extending the glasses out to Manuel and Amanda. "And you've been teaching her Basque." he said to Manuel. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Manuel deathglared at Alphonso as he kissed Amanda's hand, then he moved over to take the indicated seat. "Yes, please." he said, taking the glass from Alphonso, but he did not yet drink from it. "And no, it doesn't mean what you think it means." he told his father. "She was curious, that's all."

"I like languages, is all," Amanda added, shrugging. "'Specially old ones. Somethin' of a hobby." She slouched, rather than sat, pulling up one booted foot to rest on the seat and hooking her arm around her raised knee. Taking Manuel's example, she didn't touch the Scotch yet, although part of her was screaming for a drink.

Alphonso took the third chair, and then sipped from his Scotch. "So - what brings you both to my home?" he asked curiously, looking at Amanda the entire time. "You are welcome to it, of course, for as long as you require. Rooms - or do you only require one? - have been prepared for your arrival. This evening I have business to attend to, but I would love to feast you both properly tomorrow."

Manuel, seeing Alphonso drink from the Scotch, took a sip. Smiling, he let the liquor burn its way down his throat. "That will be acceptable. I have a question, though. Since you will be busy this evening, it is the perfect time. Where is Mother buried? I wish to pay my respects at her grave." he asked tactlessly, voice still hard.

Deciding that knocking back the entire glass in a couple of gulps would, whilst enhancing the image she was projecting at Alphonso, probably be a really bad idea considering the recent excesses of Amsterdam still being in her system, Amanda restrained herself to a mouthful of Scotch, watching the interplay between the pair.

Alphonso sighed at Manuel. "Ill done, Manuel. Ill done. She is in the family chapel - I trust you remember where it is? Yes, I thought so. Just be careful - we're fixing up that part of the grounds. Footing can be a mite treacherous." Turning to Amanda, he turned his megawatt charm up to eleven. "So, tell me a little bit about yourself, if you don't mind. My estranged son shows up with a beautiful girl on his arm, I cannot help but to be intrigued."

Manuel nodded. "I had to know." he admitted quietly, then sipped from his Scotch to watch how Amanda handled herself with Alphonso.

She shrugged, a careless gesture. "Ain't much t' tell," she said. "Me people sent me t' Xavier's for schoolin', an' that's where I met Manuel here." She was careful not to use the abbreviated form of his name in front of this man. "'M a mutant meself, 's why I'm at the school."

"A mutant? How very interesting." Alphonso said, still radiating charm. "Can you tell me what your gift is, if you do not mind me asking? Is it like Manuelito's? I really must visit this school of yours sometime. It sounds like a fascinating place. What do you study there?"

Manuel watched the byplay, and then winced subtly when Alphonso used the diminuitive form of his name. He sipped from his Scotch to cover his gaffe and let himself empathically scan Alphonso. Apparently he didn't like what he saw, as he frowned.

'Shite.' Amanda wished she'd had a chance to ask Manuel about just how much Alphonso knew about the school. Too late now. And too bad the link was empathic, not telepathic. She caught his disquiet, and the brief, jagged sensation of pain at the use of the pet name. "'M a telekinetic," she said at last, not wanting Alphonso to know what her powers really were - there was no telling what he'd do with the knowledge. "I can move stuff, with me mind. Not much, tho'. Part of the trainin' at school is t' teach me t' use it t' do more 'n float pencils." Taking another mouthful of her drink, she went on. "An' 'm studyin' languages, for the most part, like I said before. A bit of history an' the like."

Alphonso smiled charmingly at Amanda. "A telekinetic, how wonderful! What a truly _blessed_ gift to have." he said with a smile. "I am unfortunately quite mundane, although my son is a strong empath. There has been a long history of women with power in my family - witches, grand Ladies, hardened warriors, freedom fighters. If you like history and languages, I should think you'd be fascinated, no? Manuel can show you the archives later on, if you'd like."

Manuel gritted his teeth. "It's a minor power, Alphonso." he cautioned his father. "Of no use to you or your friends."

"Weak as piss," Amanda hastened to add. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask more about these women with power, but Amanda reined in her curiosity to give another of those careless shrugs. "An' the archives sound like a bit of all right," she said, glancing across at Manuel. "'M just along for the ride, so t' speak."

Alphonso smiled patronizingly at Amanda. "Then, should you have some free moments away from my son, I'd love to personally escort you through the Grand Tour. There's a lot of history in this house - it dates back to just before the fall of Rome. We've done a lot of work on it over the years, modernizing and updating it. But I couldn't bear to remove the fundamentals. I'm sure you can understand that."

Manuel gritted his teeth again at his father. "I don't think that will really be necessary..." he started to say before being cut off.

"Nonsense!" Alphonso interjected. "I insist upon it. But, I've been greedy and taken up too much of your time. You must be exhausted after your adventures in Amsterdam. The Master Guest Bedroom has been put aside for your use - why don't you both go and freshen up before dinner? I'll have the cook make you something memorable to welcome you back to Spain."

Amanda knocked back the rest of the alcohol in her glass, noting even as it burned its way down her throat that it was very good stuff indeed. "Maybe. If there's time," she said, her tone uncaring. At the same time she was projecting reassurance down the link at Manuel - yes, Alphonso reminded her more of Rack than she wanted to know, but he was, after all, merely human, with no special abilities to make him more dangerous. She could handle a dirty old man, no matter how wealthy and intimidating.

Manuel took his feet, nodded to his father, and extended his hand to Amanda. "Come now, Amanda. I think Alphonso is right - we should go freshen up. We've had a very long journey." Almost tugging at her hand, he led her out of the study and up the grand staircase to the second floor. Turning down a long hallway, he stopped before an oaken door near the end of the hallway. "This is our room." he said, opening the door onto - opulence. The bed was a four-poster, and dominated nearly a quarter of the room. All of the furniture looked like hand-carved oak, and aside from the ceiling fan light fixture, the place was lit by candles.

"He's redecorated since the last time I was here. Can't say I'm complaining." Manuel shrugged as he stepped into the room.

"'S almost a pity we ain't stayin', then," Amanda said moving past him to flop backwards onto the bed. "Almost. So, that was yer dad. I have t' say, some things make a lot more sense now. Hope I didn't fuck up too badly."

Manuel smiled at Amanda. "No, I think you did just fine. Although he's done something to the study - reading him was very hard for some reason. I wonder why that was? No matter, really. One night, and then we're gone. Would you like the tour? Despite my father, this really is a lovely old house..."

Propping herself up on her elbows, she nodded. "Tour'd be good. This place is fuckin' amazin', I have t' say. An' you were wantin' t' go pay yer respects t' yer mum, yeah? I can make meself scarce for that, if you want t' do it alone..."

Manuel nodded to that. "I'll give you a quick tour, then I'll go pay my respects. You can either stay here or I can show you the archives where the family histories are kept. You'd like them, they're interesting reading. And the earlier ones are in Latin." he said with a smile. Extending his elbow, he grinned at Amanda. "I believe a tour was promised?"

***

The archives were, as both de la Rochas had said, impressive. And very interesting - Amanda hadn't been entirely untruthful when she'd said she was interested in history. With the study both Romany and Strange had been giving her, it was impossible not to be - both of them felt a good foundation in the history of magic, as well as the actual practices, would be good for her confidence. As it was, she was so absorbed in making out the crabbed handwriting and slightly odd Latin, she barely noticed the surge of emotions down the link from Manuel. Or the footsteps, firm and confident, approaching her as she sat Indian-style in one of the heavy wood chairs.


The heavy footfalls came from Alphonso, slightly the worse for wear by way of heavy consumption of drink. "Ah, Amanda!" he said, breath reeking of spirits but his tone clear and warm. "My son is paying his respects, is he? Good for him. I was hoping I would get a chance to talk to you alone."

Amanda jumped, startled by the sudden voice, and mentally cursed the lack of attention that meant she was now effectively cornered. At least she hadn't been using her werelight to read by; she'd been tempted, given the candlelight. "Um, yeah, he's down at the chapel. What d'you want?" Her tone was brash, just skating the edge of rude, the same tone she'd used on dozens of teachers and social workers and foster families over the years.

Alphonso smiled charmingly at Amanda. "Reading by candlelight will strain your eyes, you know." he said conversationally. "And I just wanted to chat, to take the measure of my son's latest conquest." he said nastily. "There's more to you than just some piercings and a nasty accent." he said, back to being charming. "What is your interest in him?"

She'd been called far worse than someone's conquest, so she shrugged off the jibe. "Who says I have t' have an interest?" she replied, laying the book down. "He's got a bit of cash an' he's a good fuck. 'S about it, really. An' what you see with me is pretty much what you get - ain't no hidden depths here."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." he muttered under his breath. "If that were all, then you'd not be working quite so hard at convincing me that you were harmless and inoffensive to anything other than the eye and the ear." he said, still smiling. "So I ask you again - what is your interest here?"

Fuck. 'Harmless' hadn't worked, so let's try 'stupid'. "I already said - a free ride an' a bit of fun, that's all. I dunno what yer mean 'bout me workin' t' convince you of anythin', 'm just me." Her fingers drummed a little on the table, and made herself reach into her pockets for her cigarettes. "All right if I smoke in here?"

"Only if you can manifest a talent for travelling back in time to replace the documents you'd ignite if you lit up in here." he said pleasantly. "Now let's cut the crap, shall we? Manuel is many things, but thanks to his gift he cannot abide dishonesty. A useful trait, that. If you will continue to decline to state your real purpose, then I will have to assume that you are what you resemble - a common twopenny street whore." he said with a smile. "And you won't like what I do to whores."

Laying the cigarettes down on the table, Amanda let her aura sight flicker into her vision for just a few seconds. Enough to see Alphonso was not a man to fool around with. Supressing a shiver - she'd never seen Rack's aura, but Alphonso's gave her a good idea of what she might have seen if she had - she met the older de la Rocha's eyes as steadily as she could. "We're mates," she said at last. "We go t' the same school, we're both foreigners dealin' with a bunch of American goody-two-shoes types, an' we get on. I like him well enough, but if you want t' know what he sees in me past the twopenny street whore, yer'd have t' ask him."

Alphonso smiled thinly. "A good start, I believe, but not the whole story. You continue to lie to me, and that is something that does not please me." he mused. "However, I think that I shall be magnanimous." And with that, he reached into his back pocket, withdrew a money roll, and quickly flicked out two bills. "Not quite twopenny, but definitely more than you're worth." He extended her the bills with a grating de la Rocha smirk - the same one Manuel uses when he's being cruel and enjoying it. "For your trouble. I can't have you walking away without receiving your pay, and I know my son is dependent on the White Queen for largesse."

"Keep it." Amanda folded her arms across her chest to stop herself doing something nasty magic-wise - she wasn't sure the threefold rule would apply to this man, but even if it didn't, she didn't want to explain to Manuel that she'd just blown up his father. "I don't need it, an' I'm buggered if I'll take anythin' from you. Soon as Manny comes back, I'll be out of yer face."

Alphonso smiled again, the same ingratiating de la Rocha smirk. "Oh, but I insist." He left the bills on a stack of books near where Amanda stood. "Bought and paid for." he smirked again. Coming to a decision, he stepped back and gave Amanda a half-bow. "Sleep well tonight." he told her.

Amanda flinched, as if he'd physically struck her. There was no way he could know about Rack, or that he'd used the very same words to her in Mexico, but they still cut over healing scar tissue. And she was warding the door before she went anywhere near the bed that night, and anywhere else she could think of. "Sure I will," was all she could think of to say. She'd come out of this badly, she knew that, she just wasn't sure how.

Alphonso slid out of the room with a graceful stride and a big grin on his face. A very familiar-looking big grin.

For her part, Amanda returned to the book, but her concentration was shot. It was all she could do to sit patiently and wait for Manuel to come and find her - the last thing she was about to do was wander the house alone. The money she left sitting untouched on the table.

Manuel finally returned from the chapel a few hours later - his knees still covered in dirt and mud, and the stains of his emotional experience still showing on his face. "Amanda?" he called out to her as he entered the room. "Ah, good, you are here. Find anything interesting?"

"A bit." Uncharacteristically, she rose to meet him, hugging him tightly. "You all right? You do what you had to?"

Manuel returned the hug tightly. "It's a start." is all he said. "I forgave her."

"Good." She paused, not sure what to say, or whether to mention her conversation with his father at all. "Um. You remember what you said 'bout us not stayin' the night under the same roof as yer dad?"

Manuel sighed. "Let me guess - he took advantage of the situation and found you while I was away."

Amanda nodded. "He wanted t' know what me intentions were, I s'pose. It... didn't go well." She gave a shaky laugh. "Actually, it went fuckin' awful. I couldn't've have bollocksed things up more if I'd tried. An' he..." She couldn't continue, but nodded at the money lying on the table. "He left that. For me."

Manuel glanced at the cash, and then snarled. "I see." is all he said. "I suppose we should go, then. Gather up your things, I'll see if I can get a driver to pick us up."

"'M sorry," she murmured, holding onto him for just a little longer, resting her forehead on his chest. "He wouldn't believe me when I said there wasn't anythin' special 'bout me an' you, an' he got me so wound up I couldn't think straight." She was shaking a little, the shock of seeing so many of Manuel's mannerisms in his father starting to hit home. If Manuel was like Alphonso, and Alphonso reminded her of Rack... She reined in that particular train of thought and looked up at Manuel. "If you want, you can leave me at this other place, come back... I don't wanna fuck things up for you here."

Manuel shook his head, pulled out his cellphone, and dialed some numbers. Then he looked at his phone and cursed. "Well, I don't think I won't be making any phone calls. I can't get a signal. Do you think that we can tough it out for the night, and depart in the morning?

"S'pose we'll have to, won't we?" Amanda pushed herself away from Manuel, made an effort to pull herself together. Now was not the time to go soft. "I can ward the doors, make sure we don't get any unexpected visitors in the middle of the night."

"Normally that would be my cue to laugh and say that you're being paranoid. Tonight, however, I will not object to anything you feel the need to try." he said completely seriously. "I regret that Alphonso couldn't behave himself for just one night. Especially since, comparatively, your family received me so well. I am ashamed." And he was, too - the link positively burned with it. "It has not been a good day for me, emotionally speaking. Let me go talk to him - you can tell through the link when I am at the door, and then undo the spell and let me in."

"If Rom an' the rest of 'em were any more open-minded they'd be walkin' 'round with holes in their heads." Amanda said with a small smile. "An' I probably could've dealt with it better - I ain't so good with all this cloak an' dagger stuff. Just... be careful, all right? He's playin' games with both of us, an' it's you he wants the most. He's pretty much decided I ain't worth much, an' that I can deal with, as long as I keep clear of him." She reached up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Let's get back t' the room."

***