Amanda, Bethany

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Saturday night, during Amanda's weekend at Bethany's, the pair engage in clinginess, flattery, and a whole lot of fluffy cute. Bethany also gets her first exposure to magic, beyond her protection charm'd bracelet.



As anticipated, as soon as Amanda had arrived at the Moore household, it became quite a trick to convince Bethany - or Mrs. Moore, for that matter - to let the girl out of her sight for more than, oh, five seconds. But eventually, Bethany had stopped hovering quite so much. She was up to a full minute without watching Amanda like a very worried hawk.

"Sorry if dinner was a bit heavy," Bethany offered from her spot on the couch, flipping through the TV Guide with a vaguely distasteful expression. "When mom worries, she cooks.. so when mom's relieved, she really cooks."

"'S all right. Or will be, when I can move again," Amanda replied, flopping down onto the couch next to Bethany and pillowing her head on the other girl's leg. "I never thought I'd say this, but I ate too much."

Bethany peeked over the top of the TV Guide as her leg became a pillow, grinning faintly and comfortably laying an arm across Amanda's collarbone. "It happens to the best of us." She paused, then tentatively asked for the upteenth time, "You're sure you're okay?"

It was a sign of just how much Amanda liked Bethany that she didn't snap her reply at the other girl. "Sure," she said, pressing a brief kiss to the forearm lying across her front. "Tired, but that's from the magic I was usin'. An' there's this whole thing with Manny, but that's nothin' anyone can help with, an' I'll deal with it when he's ready t' talk. But apart from a massive dose of indigestion, 'm good. Better for bein' here."

After a moment's thought, Bethany abandoned the TV Guide on favor of awkwardly bending to lightly kiss Amanda's forehead. Much more entertaining, this. "Glad being here helps," she murmured, a bit sheepishly. "I know it helps me."

Ignoring her complaining stomach for the moment, Amanda shuffled up a little so she was lying half across Bethany's lap instead. "It does?" she asked seriously. "I would've thought yer'd have enough of me dramas by now."

"The dramas are gettin' a little old," Bethany admitted, accomodating the shift and taking the opportunity to steal a real, proper kiss as soon as humanly possible. "But you are not your drama. 'case you haven't been playing along at home, I like you. Hence the fretting and going gray about fifty years early."

"Mmm," Amanda murmured, leaning into the kiss. "Wondered 'bout the dark hair dye in the bathroom." She brushed a strand of said hair out of Bethany's face. "Works out well, 'cause you actually stop me goin' mental. Need my dose of sane people, an' that's what I get here. An' it helps I like you too."

"If you think I'm sane, you obviously need to get out of the school more," Bethany teased, quite content to remain bent over so she could leave her forehead lightly pillowed against the other girl's. "Glad you like having me around, too.. the other folks you hang out with make me feel horribly boring and plain and not-very-special-at-all, when I let myself stop and think about it.. so it's nice to hear you don't mind it."

"Not very special? Fuck, Beth, yer bloody amazin'. Yer smart, yer a bleedin' marvel on that board of yers, and you don't take shite from no-one." Amanda's tone was vehement. "If anyone else had had t' put up with all the crap I've put you through in the last few mon... weeks," Amanda corrected herself, forgetting that it had actually only been a couple of weeks since Columbia. "...they'd have gone bloody balmy. But here you are, makin' jokes an' cuddlin' up on the couch like I ws only off on holiday or sometin'." She kissed Bethany then, almost fiercely. "Yer amazin'," she repeated.

Bethany made a muffled noise of surprise at the kiss, ignoring the rather intense shade of red her cheeks had become at the other girl's tone. ...well. The kiss hadn't helped much in that regard, either. "I was a wreck when you got here," she reminded her, almost tentatively, once she'd managed to find her voice again. "But having you actually, physically here makes it a little easier to tell you're.. y'know.. not gone.. and the jokes are just so's I don't go weepy on you again. And the cuddling?" She nodded once, firmly. "Clinging. ...but if you think I'm amazing, I'll take your word for it." She smiled oddly.

"I don't say stuff I don't mean, least ways, not the nice stuff. So if I say yer amazin', you are," Amanda said decisively, but amused at the amount of blushing she'd caused. And somehow gratified. It was good to know someone considered her opinion that important. "An' in case you hadn't noticed, I've been usin' you as a cushion pretty much since I got here. You ain't the only one who's clingy."

"Then I am, indeed, amazing, and thank you for thinking so." Bethany flashed a grin, but it soon returned to her previous smile of embarassment. "I don't mind being clung to. S'kind of nice, actually."

"No arguments here." Amanda shifted herself into a slightly more comfortable position and lay her head on Bethany's shoulder. "Mmm. Yep, definitely no arguments."

"Maybe we should go be clingy in the other room," Bethany mused, comfortably tucking her face in against Amanda's neck. "Dad's due home soon, and while he won't care that we're being quite adorable, he will tease. At great length."

"Oh goddess, not again. This mornin' was bad enough. Didn't know he was gunna walk in right then," Amanda mock-groaned, actually blushing herself at the memory. She found the honest normality of Bethany's house harder to react to than the insanity of the mansion sometimes, but in a good way. Then Bethany nuzzled her neck again, and she shivered. "You keep that up an' we ain't gunna make it off the couch."

"You say that like it's gonna make me stop," Bethany chuckled, smiling impishly as she nuzzled her cheek against Amanda's neck. "You're very cute when you blush. I can't see it from here, but you so totally are, aren't you?"

"Wench." There was no point denying the accusation when her cheeks were growing hot. "Yes, fine, I am. I keep expectin' yer dad t' come after me with a shotgun or somethin', an' instead he teases me 'bout how cute we are. 'S disturbin', is what it is."

Bethany couldn't help but giggle, planting a kiss against the crook of the other girl's neck before she began to straighten back up. "That's because he knows what's most effective," she observed wisely. "He's a smart guy like that."

"Like his daughter." Amanda contemplated the effort it would take to upwrap herself from Bethany and go into the next room and pouted. Way too much. Unless... A slightly mischievious grin crossed her face. "Speakin' of clingy, I've got a way of gettin' t' the next room without havin' t' stand up. You trust me?"

"You keep flattering me, and we definitely won't make it off the couch," Bethany grinned. She watched the girl go from pouting to mischevious, and perked noticably, tilting her head to one side. "With everythin' I've got," she nodded. "What d'you have in mind?"

Amanda remembered Manuel saying much the same thing, and inwardly winced. "Levitation spell," she said. "I've got enough power t' float more 'n just pencils, just you watch." And with that she closed her eyes and concentrated, lifting the pair of them slowly off the couch and floating them over towards the other room. Fortunately the distance wasn't great, but as it was, the new pendant glowed deep blue with the power usage. Amanda was panting very slightly as she dropped them carefully onto the bed and closed the dor behind them. "'S a good thing neither of us is really big," she said wryly. "Pencils're lighter."

Well, this was something Bethany had to see.. even if, as soon as she felt herself being lifted off the couch, she couldn't quite help but hang onto Amanda a bit more tightly. With a little squeek as they were deposited ontot he bed, she blinked twice, glancing between Amanda, the amulet, and the door, before she clamped a hand down over her mouth to muffle a rather happy laugh. "Swear I didn' just dream that?"

"Nope." Amanda couldn't help grinning at Bethany's reaction - she'd forgotten she'd never used magic in front of her before, discounting the protection bracelet. "What d'you think? Pretty wicked, eh? An' it means I can take horrible advantage of you now without yer dad interruptin'."

"Very wicked," Bethany confirmed, grinning radiantly and cuddling up against the witch's chest. "Oh, yes. Much with the taking horrible advantage of. Please do."

Amanda wrapped her arms around Bethany's waist, bending down to kiss her, then nibble on her ear. "I could defnitely get used t' this whole clingy thing," she murmured into the soft skin of Bethany's neck.