Scott and Amanda, Tuesday afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Amanda brings Scott a hangover cure. They talk, a little - something new for the two of them. Hungover or not, Scott is already trying to think of how to handle the situation.



Scott had gotten back to his room and managed to completely avoid everyone in the process, which was good. Once there, he'd fired up his own laptop, carefully read every single post brought about by his stupidity, and then posted his apology. Then he had closed the computer. And put it under his bed. Where it belonged.

The hangover was... not as bad as it should have been, logically, he thought, sitting very still on the couch, his eyes closed. Pity.

Pausing outside Scott's door, Amanda wondered at herself. Scott was a grown man, he hadn't asked for her help, and there was no reason why she should be here, a glass of something rather virulently green in her hand. But still, here she was, and the hangover cure was already made and all... She tapped cautiously on the door, hoping that perhaps he wouldn't hear and she could go away again and wait for the temporary insanity to go away. Damn Lee and the whole guilt thing any way.

Okay. First person up to take a crack at him? Scott took a deep breath, donning his best composed expression. "Come in," he called, opening his eyes.

Bugger. Amanda opened the door, peeked around the edge of it. "Um, I dunno if you saw me offer, but I made up that potion for you anyway," she offered hesitantly. She and Scott had barely exchanged words since she'd arrived, and she had no idea how to relate to the man. "I can just leave it an' go, if yer'd like."

The hangover cure, Scott assumed. He smiled a little. "You can come in if you like," he said quietly. "I appreciate you making that up for me."

"Didn't take long, an' hey, anythin' that helps the karma right now is a good thing, right?" Amanda tried for the light tone and mostly hit it. "An' I figured yer'd need somethin' t' help you face the howls of disapproval." She came in, and handed him the glass. "One of the better-tastin' ones. 'S got a lot of peppermint in it."

Scott looked a bit curiously at the potion, but then sipped it. "I really do appreciate it," he said, managing another faint smile. "As for disapproval... well, brought it on myself. I'll manage."

Amanda nodded. "I ain't about t' start in on you - it ain't my place, an' I've done heaps more that's stupider than tequila." She shrugged. "They'll be all outraged for a while, an' then somethin' else'll come along an' distract them." With a sudden grin, she added: "I could do somethin' distractin', if you like. Call Jay a git or somethin'."

"That's okay," Scott said, actually mustering up a weak chuckle. "No need to add to the conflict level." He sipped at the potion again. It really wasn't that bad. "So you just came up to help me get rid of the hangover? I'm, um, kind of touched, actually."

"Don't get all mushy on me, I didn't do it 'cause yer me best mate or nothin'." Amanda shrugged again. "I just figured there'd be plenty of people in yer face 'bout this whole thing, an' no-one needs t' deal with that with a hangover. Had enough of those t' know, an' tequila's a bastard. An', well..." She paused, fingers twisting nervously in the folds of the overlarge men's shirt she was wearing. "After what I done t' Lee... 'm tryin' t' even the scales a bit. 'S a magic thing."

"Fair enough," Scott said, taking another sip. "Hope you don't mind that I'm grateful, though? For all of it, not just the potion..." He smiled again at her, and it came across a little more convincing this time.

With an answering smile, she nodded. "If you insist on it," she said, but her tone was humorous. She tilted her head at him curiously. "Y'know, I've been here eight months, an' I don't think I've really talked t' you much before. 'Cept for Energy Manipulation class." Amanda rolled her eyes at the thought of the last - it hadn't exactly been a successful experiment in teaching her to learn how to control her mutancy.

Scott chuckled again, a little heartened. This was working; he could do this. "I'm not all that good at the whole relating to people thing," he said wryly. "Especially students. You may have noticed. Although it's funny, given that I was a student... although the school was a lot different back then."

"How was it different?" Amanda hadn't given much thought to the school's history, but with her studies focussing a lot on the past, she had an interest in how things began now.

"Smaller," Scott said quietly. "Lots smaller. Not quite so much of a school as it is now..." Thoughts of years ago brought back thoughts of Jean, though, and Scott made himself take another sip of the potion, pushing the memories away. "It's a lot better for you guys now, I think. More mutants your own age to relate to, more opportunities..."

Amanda surpressed an eyeroll at the mention of opportunities. That was sounding more like Scott. "The X gee... I mean, the Prof started all this? The school, I mean. Must've been a lot of work."

"Well, Charles has got a lot of energy," Scott said, not missing the eye-rolling, but not taking it personally. His head hurt too much for that, and he supposed he had been verging on pontificating there. "But yeah, I gather that it was. Still is, really, to keep on top of everything..." Except that led back to thoughts of how badly he'd just screwed up with the whole 'helping Charles keep on top of everything', and he gave her another ghost of a smile, cutting that train of thought right off at the pass. "Complicated thing, a school. Especially one like this."

"Even without the demon invasions an' the random kidnappin's, eh?" Amanda saw his discomfort, even without using the aura sight. The man had responsibility issues coming out of his ears, and she supposed last night's episode definitely hadn't helped. "Ever think of chuckin' it in, findin' yerself a less stressful job?"

"Oddly enough, frequently," Scott said and then blinked. "Well, not really," he murmured, sipping at the potion again. "I can't. I owe too much to the Professor, for everything he's done... and I believe in what he's doing. But I think maybe, after last night, I ought to be rethinking whether or not I ought to be teaching."

With a frown, Amanda looked at him. "You wot?" she asked, honestly surprised. She didn't know Scott that well, but she had seen him in action as a teacher. "All right, it was a bloody stupid thing t' do, but for fuck's sake, look at the teachers here! You really think yer unfit t' teach 'cause you got trolleyed an' made a stupid post? Look at Nate, look at Pete, lot at bloody Betsy for Christ's sake." She stopped herself, realising she was probably overstepping her bounds, and wondering why. It wasn't like she hadn't thought the teachers a bunch of hypocrites for posting drunkenly when she wasn't allowed to have the odd vodka at a club.

"It's not about kicking myself. Really," Scott said, a little taken aback by the vehemence of her reaction. "And hey, not planning to stomp away in a self-disgusted huff or anything. But it really was... well." He smiled a bit ruefully at Amanda. "I figure I'll talk to Charles about it when I'm a little less hung over, see what he says."

"Sorry, I shouldn't've said." Amanda was a bit sheepish by the strength of her reaction. "'S just... We need good teachers here, an' yer one of them. Even I could see that, in Energy Manipulation, even if it didn't help me." She shrugged. "We need good teachers here, is all."

Scott looked down at the potion. "Thanks," he said quietly, again, and dropped the subject. She didn't really need to hear it. But he did need to start thinking about it.