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xp_logsManuel asks Amanda for magical homework help, and shows his appreciation. A lot. Things get interesting with the link, and they get quite mooky in fact. It all ends with them being responsible and finishing their homework.
Warning - graphic sex scenes. But it's smut with character development. Really.
Manuel sat at his desk, staring at the pile of textbooks with something approximating horror. He held the top one in his hands, open to Page Two. He had started at Page One a half-hour ago. Sighing, he put the book down and reached for his laptop. ~Amanda, if you're not busy, can I see you in my room? I need a favor.~ he typed, and then sent the IM to her account.
For her part, Amanda had just finished her Arabic and Mandarin translation exercises (Nate's Mandarin folktale being far more entertaining than Haroun's Arabic homily) and was studiously ignoring her math problems when her AIM account pinged. ~Sure. What's up?~ she typed briefly.
~My brain hurts. Kiss it and make it all better? And bring your translation-spell.~ he typed, then sighed. He reached into his minifridge, and pulled out a Red Bull. Downing the can in a single swallow, he discarded the empty and picked up the textbook again. Maybe now it would make more sense once the caffeine hit him.
Amanda chuckled, both amused and pleased. For Manuel to _ask_ for help, especially magical help... ~Be right there.~ she replied, signing off and digging through the pile of books and parchments in her bottom desk drawer to find the right spell. The door to Manuel's suite was half-open when she got there, so she let herself in, ignoring John slouched on the couch watching cartoons and tapping on Manuel's bedroom door.
"It's open!" he said, not bothering to get up. He did however let his sense of relief and desperation touch the link slightly. "I could really use your help." he admitted once she had entered. "I've got a whole lot of reading to do, and none of it is making any sense."
"Ah. Thought that might be it." Amanda crossed the room to wrap her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Nate's class?" she asked, looking at the pile of book with distaste. They all looked big, complicated, and extremely boring.
"Most of it, yeah. The rest is econ. I like the courses, but this reading is going to _kill me_. Can you help me?" he said, trying to keep his desperation out of his voice and maintain some semblance of pride. He snuggled back into the hug for a second, just revelling in the contact. "I think I may have been overly ambitious this semester. Still, I cannot afford to fail again, as that went just _so well_ last time." he said with disgust, remembering Nathan and how it all ended.
"'S why I didn't take the class, even tho' Nate asked if I wanted to - me readin' ain't up t' scratch an' even the translation spell wouldn't help." She nuzzled his ear with her lips, before kissing his neck. "But, it will work for you. An' yer lucky - I've been workin' on this one, so it'll work better than last time."
Manuel closed his eyes for a second, then pushed his growing inclination to say "Hell with it!" to the homework and fool about with Amanda for the remainder of his afternoon aside. "I'd love to play, love, but I need to get this done." he said with a warm smile. "So go ahead and do your eye-of-newt thing, if you can."
"'If I can'," she snorted, pretending to be offended. "You forget yer dealin' with a witch prodigy here, love." Unwrapping her arms from around him, she lay down the scroll she was carrying on the desk and pulled a small jar of herbal ointment from her front pocket. Unrolling the scroll and setting the jar on the centre of it, she cleared her mind of nothing but the spell, a sensation of eerie calmness spilling down the link. "~Curse of Babel be undone, let the written word be clear...~" she read, the ancient words coming easily. When the invocation was complete, she picked up the jar again and opened it, smearing a little of the contents on Manuel's eyelids and forehead. "There, that should do it," she said, smiling at the face he was making.
Manuel knew better by this point then to try to wipe the gunk off his face. He picked up the book he had started, flipped back to Page One, and then smiled. It made _sense_ now! "Thanks a _lot_." he said physically and empathically. "This is wonderful. It makes sense now. How long will it last? And can you make enchanted objects, or is that still beyond you? I'd _love_ to get this spell in an amulet or a stone like my Norse one I got from Loki."
"It should last for a couple of weeks," Amanda said, leaning back against the desk a little tiredly. The spell wasn't a minor one, although it was far less effort than some of hers. "I dunno if I could enchant an amulet, but you never know until you try. 'Sides, could be somethin' I could do with Craig - he's one of Homily's people, makes a lot of gadgets. If I told him what I wanted, I think he could probably knock up somethin' for you."
Manuel grinned. "I'd be _extremely_ grateful." he said in his Bedroom Voice. "I want to learn this stuff on my own, but there's just no _time_. And I don't want to get ratfucked again by someone trying to do me a favor."
"No ratfuckin', I promise," Amanda said, nudging his chair around slightly so she could sit on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck again. "An' any time you need help, you can ask me. I might not be able t' do somethin' all the time, but if I can, you know I will."
"I wasn't thinking of you or your friend Craig." he said darkly. "You I know I can count on without reservation." He grinned at the wytch in his lap, and decided that Macroeconomics could _wait_ for a short while. "You seem to be feeling much better. Eating right, sleeping, all that stuff?"
"I've been horribly normal for the whole week," she said, chuckling. She was in far too good a mood to start another discussion on Nathan's 'failures'. "Food's actually lookin' good again, an' 'm gettin' better with the sleepin' - when I ain't gettin' the tour of Lee's fuckin' head, that is." She pulled a face. "Strange's teachin' me some of the mental stuff, an' I've been dreamwalking again. An' since I've been healin' Lee, guess where I ended up?"
Manuel quirked an eyebrow in his Vulcan impression. "Since I don't recall sensing any more explosions, I am guessing that it went tolerably well." he said. "I don't remember sensing you in my dreams - besides your normal presence there, of course." he smirked, then ran a fingertip down her jawline. "Do you think you might have enough energy left in you to spend the night?"
"No explosions," she confirmed, wriggling a little at the sensation. Manuel knew all of her spots intimately by now, and he used them shamelessly. "'M still fixin' the damage from the last one." She showed him the calluses that had appeared on her palms. "Didn't you have some work you wanted t' do?" she went on, nuzzling at his neck despite her words.
"I have a healthy list of things I want to do. Schoolwork is _somewhere_ on the list." he groaned as she hit one of _his_ spots. Curse her, she knew him too well. It was already getting hard to think and not just feel. "You're on the top of the list." he confirmed, then teased her earlobes with his fingertips.
"The top, eh?" Moving so she was straddling his lap rather than sitting across it, Amanda nibbled lightly at the soft skin just under his jaw, before moving up to kiss him, long and lingering. "Must be pretty important t' be there."
"It is." he said, finding rationality rapidly fleeing him. For fun, he opened up the link all the way. Might as well share. He returned the kiss, nice and slow, still missing the tongue-stud but determined to do a good job of things nonetheless. "You keep this up, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep my hands off of you."
She gasped a little as the full wave of emotion came down the link, and pressed herself against him a little more. "Since when have you ever been able t' keep yer hands off me?" she asked with a husky chuckle as he bit lightly on her neck.
Manuel grinned and kept nibbling at that neck of hers. "When you're sick is just about the only time I really want to." he said thickly. "And sometimes even that's a challenge. You have a choice. Chair, floor, wall, bed. Your pick." he leered.
"What, no ceilin'?" Amanda asked with a snicker that turned into a moan as Manuel's roaming hands found somewhere very interesting. "Wall," She managed, grinding against him slowly. "Seein' how I ain't sick any more."
"If you can work the levitation-spell, I'd do you on the ceiling. Could be fun." he grinned as he palmed her breasts through her clothes. "You up for it?" he grinned.
"Not quite yet," she pouted. "Needs more power than they let me have t' lift two for that long." She started working on the buttons of his shirt, bending forward and running her lips over the ridge of his collar bone. "But the minute I do, I'll take you up on that."
Manuel groaned and leaned back to allow her more access. "It's a date." he mumbled, finding rationality had just about fled completely. "I have _missed_ you."
She could feel just _how_ much through his pants and her jeans. "Wanna show me how much by fuckin' me senseless against the wall?" she asked, rubbing her thumbs over his nipples before sliding her hands downwards. She kissed him again, hard and demanding.
Manuel returned that kiss with interest. "I'll try not to break you." he said before tearing at her clothes, driven by a sudden need to see her skin, to feel it, to taste it. To possess her in ways that no one else could. Where fingers pushed material away, tongue followed.
"You won't," she gasped, before the sensations pouring down the link coupled with her own feelings to effectively short-circuit rational thought. She yanked her t-shirt off the rest of the way even as he started tearing at the buttons of her jeans, his mouth hot on her scarred skin. ~Love you,~ she thought blindly, even as she ran her nails down his back. ~I love you so fucking much.~
Manuel purred. ~Love you too~ he sent back, before arching his back and losing rationality altogether. He stood up - to better shed the remainder of his clothes and rip the rest of hers off of her body. Pushing her back down into the chair, he knelt down before her and spread her open as wide as the chair would allow. Grinning, he leaned forward and lapped at her like his very salvation depended on her experiencing as much pleasure as humanly possible in the shortest amount of time possible.
Already extremely aroused, half-mad with it, in fact, Amanda jerked and shuddered at the touch of Manuel's lips and tongue on her. Tilting her hips slightly so he could have better access, her nails bit into his shoulders, her moans and gasps becoming louder the more Manuel worked his magic on her.
Manuel was merciless, driven by need and by demons unseen. Just as she was about to hit her absolute limit, he stopped. Looking up at Amanda, he grinned, wiped the various fluids off his chin, and picked her up out of the chair to press her against the wall. Spreading her legs with one of his, he adjusted himself slightly and forced himself into her - not roughly to the point of pain, but not gently either. The very force and feel of it ripped a shuddering groan from his body.
Any disappointment she might have felt at Manuel not finishing her in the chair was quickly lost as he buried himself in her, pushing her back against the wall with each thrust. Bracing herself against the wall with the help of her telekinetic spell, Amanda cried out as he pushed into her, tightening her arms around his neck, arching into him. His need, his desire... it washed over the link, overwhelming thought, and she screamed his name as she came.
Manuel didn't last too much longer than she did - while he didn't get the stimulating she did, he was raging hard and making up for lost time. He screamed as he let himself go, not words so much as primal pure emotion, his very core being revealed for a split-second in all its shades of light and darkness. The moment couldn't last, though, and as the wave of orgasm fled and sanity returned, so he backed off from the link and the intensity of the experience. "One thing about sex with you - it's _never_ dull." he panted out with a spent grin.
"You can say that again," she replied, breathing heavily and unable to stop the truly silly grin on her face. Focussing as much as she was able, she floated the pair of them over to the bed, unwilling to let go for even the minute it would take. "Think we were makin' up for lost time," she continued, resting her forehead on his shoulder as the effort of the spell made itself felt: Manuel was bigger than Bethany. "Not that I mind, at all."
Manuel just grinned the grin of a man well-satisfied. "It's never dull." he repeated obligingly. "That took the edge off, at least." he said. "We can do the long, slow, and tender thing later tonight, if you'd like. All the cuddling you can possibly handle."
"'S a hard life, but I manage somehow," she told him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "I'll come by later - gotta finish that bloody maths homework. Wouldn't do t' get behind already."
"Homework!" Manuel blurted out. "Crap! I've got a ton of reading I need to do! Hopefully I'll have enough braincells later on to treat you right." he said with a leer. "But I need to get back to my reading."
She laughed at that - it was such a change from last term. "Give us another kiss an' then you can get back to it," she said. "Tho' you'll have t' lend me another shirt, since mine sort of got shredded. Again."
"Whoops." Manuel said, not at all regretful. "Closet's over there - take your pick." Looking at Amanda's nude form on his bed, he got a truly evil glint in his eye. "Anywhere in particular you'd like your kiss?" he grinned.
"Since you let me pick where we fucked, I think 's yer turn t' choose," she told him, relishing that glint. Manuel had been the very model of the solicitous boyfriend over the past week or so, but it was good to see he still retained some of his wickedness. There was such a thing as too nice, after all.
"My turn to choose. I do love those words." he said, keeping the evil glint that he knew she loved. He was trying to be a better man, a better boyfriend and a better lover, but dammit, sometimes he just had to be him! "I think I'm going to pick - your brain." he said, and then his eyes flashed red. Down the link he pushed their latest experience, compressed into a split-second of orgasmic _feeling_. Smirking, he waited to see her reaction.
Amanda's body stiffened, then shuddered at the sensation. A small whimper escaped her and for a moment she lay still, eyes closed, relishing Manuel's 'kiss' and the waves of feeling it generated. "You keep that up, an' the only homework we'll be doin' is sex ed," she said after a while, opening her eyes to smile at him wickedly.
"I'm taking that class." he pointed out. "I'd hate to fall behind in my homework." He paused to think for a second, and then grinned _evilly_. "I can do that trick from anywhere, you know." he commented. "Anywhere at all."
She probably should be disturbed by that idea, but Amanda was never one for accepting conventional limits of behaviour. "There'd be some explainin' t' do if you did it when I was workin' with Strange," she said, grinning. "An' that's not an invite, by the way. He's only just started talkin' t' me again after I stole the Orb off him."
Manuel nodded. "Give me a little credit for some sensitivity. I don't want to mess up your relationship with Strange." he said. "It's kinda cool, though. I could just be sitting there in class, bored out of my mind - I have an eidetic memory now, I'll always remember the lectures - and just decide that you need to get all hot and bothered. Might even need to get up, excuse yourself, and find a private place to get some relief." he smirked, eyes crossing slightly as he imagined that.
"Link works both ways, remember," she pointed out, grinning just as wickedly. "I ain't as good at it as you are, but I figure I can be pretty distractin'." To demonstrate, she imagined just what form that relief would take and how it would feel, and pushed the sensations back down the link to him.
Manuel's eyes crossed as he experienced Amanda's relief vividly. "Oh my." he said, looking down to find himself at full mast, so to speak. "Look what you did. You woke it up!" he said with a somewhat childish giggle. "Now whatever am I to do?"
"Cold shower?" Amanda suggested innocently.
Manuel scowled at Amanda. "That's no _FUN_!" he said, continuing to be childish. "_I_ think that - you need to be tickled!" And with that, he pounced at Amanda, careful not to land directly on her, and starting finding her admittedly few ticklish spots and exploiting them.
Shrieking with laughter Amanda tried to squirm away, grabbing at his wrists. "No fair!" she gasped, still giggling, as she managed to pin him down by virtue of sitting on him, holding his wrists above his head. "Yer not ticklish, so I can't get you back." Then a definite naughty expression crossed her face. "Not that way, at least." And with that she shifted slightly and slid him into her, agonisingly slowly, enjoying the dual sensation of what she was feeling and what he was.
Manuel grinned as he felt her envelop him achingly slowly. "My." is all he managed to get out, concentrating instead on their connection, both physical and mental. "I love you." he said to her, staring into her eyes for a few seconds before straining upwards for a kiss - not allowing himself to break out of her grip on his wrists. "Seems you have snared yourself a Manuel. In every way."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," she replied, leaning down for the kiss, the motion creating some very interesting sensations further down. "Manuels're good t' have."
Manuel returned the kiss, and experimentally wiggled just a little bit. "And there are lots of ways you like it." he retorted with a grin. "Standing up or laying down or up against the wall." he said, with a jerk of his head towards the scene of their latest tryst. "On your knees, on your stomach, on your back, on your side, in a stairwell, in the ladies' room, in the men's room, outside, in the lake, on the deck, in church..." he recited with a grin. "Did I miss any?"
"Pagan fertility sites," she replied, with a grin of her own. "An' the stables." She began to ride him, slowly, relishing the feeling and the expression on his face.
"Can't forget those. And my God, the stables. You were wild, just like the horses." he said, remembering. As she moved, he met her move for move, relishing each point of contact between their bodies. Letting go, letting her pick the pace and the angle, letting her do the work - felt good. Felt good in ways that it rarely ever had before. Experimentally, he opened his mind to her, throwing away all barriers and blocks.
"'M always wild, just sometimes I hide it better 'n others. An' you bring it out in me." She increased the pace a little, pushing herself down against him harder, faster. "No-one knows me like you do, love." Then the link... _changed_, shifted in her perceptions slightly, and she blinked as fragments of thoughts, images, came into her head.
"You were more primal then, more free. I thought you were going to wake everyone." he said, and then just lay back and concentrated on being open - snatches of thought, of feeling, floated over from her mind to his - and from his to hers. No secrets, nothing held back. Save one thing, which he was careful to keep tucked well-away. "No one possibly could know you like I do." he admitted. "And you know me better than anyone ever could."
She shivered at the depth of the connection, exhilarated and afraid all at the same time. Afraid of hurting him, mostly. Letting go of his wrists, she guided his hands to settle on her waist, bracing her own hands against his chest, moving against him faster now, more urgently. She wanted him all of him, and he was giving that to her. It terrified and thrilled her. ~Mine,~ she whispered softly into his head, sounding almost tentative.
~Yours~ he thought back. ~Don't be afraid of it. I give it freely.~ he sent to her, as his body moved. ~I would never hurt you. Don't fear me.~ His body cooperated with hers, settling into the easy rhythm that they had established. ~I want you so much.~
~Not afraid of you. Afraid of me,~ she replied, eyes closed now, concentrating on the feelings, the physical and the psychic, that were threatening to undo her entirely. ~I don't want to hurt you, love.~ She opened her eyes, looked into his. "I love you. Always."
Those words, even now, still sent a frission of feeling up and down Manuel's spine. They made him feel safe, wanted, needed in ways that he hadn't since he was a boy. ~What do you fear?~ he asked her mentally, not even realizing that this was the first time their link had gone fully telepathic consciously. "I am yours." he replied to her.
She couldn't frame the answer in words, so she gave it to him in images instead, a conglomeration of how she'd felt in Limbo, full of dark power, of Rack, and his plans for her, of the Enchantress, and her promises, of her being consumed by the darker side of the magic. Even the fight with Jubilee, and the satisfaction she'd felt in inflicting pain. ~Me.~ she 'said', pulling him upwards so he was sitting upright whilst she still moved against him - she needed to feel his arms around her. ~I'm afraid of me, that there's something dark inside me. Something that'll hurt you.~ Her mental 'voice' lacked the accent of her speaking voice, coming through clear and unhindered.
~You think you are dark?~ he thought back, and sent some of his own images over to her. Himself and Doug, trapped in a positive feedback loop. Amsterdam and the nightclub. Lorna, how her spite and petty revenge drove hot spikes through him until he lashed out the only way he could. Bobby icing the kitchen. Nathan abandoning him, leaving Manuel so bare that he had to lash out to cover himself. And lastly - the Man in the Chair. The empty shell of himself, a mockery of feeling. ~I have so much that is dark. You are my bright spot.~ he sent back as he clung onto her as if welded there.
~And you're mine.~ Without realising it, Amanda pulled Manuel's mind into hers, onto the beach that was the centre of her mental landscape. It was the same as when Manuel had entered her dreams, with one exception. A lighthouse a little way down the shore, both close and far way at the same time. The light was lit, shining in one direction, towards Amanda's beach. ~You're the light that brings me back,~ she told him, even as the demands of their bodies broke her concentration and she drew him deep into her, as far as he would go, shuddering in his arms. ~No more chains. Only light.~
Manuel rode out her shuddering orgasm, still nowhere near having another one - not so soon after his first. But he kept moving, kept her pleasure going while increasing his own slowly. He looked around the beach that was her mindscape, and the warm light that was her representation of their link together. ~I so need to come up with something more fitting to you. A painting, no matter how rich, just doesn't do it justice anymore.~ he said, walking along the water's edge.
~It changed, after Asgard,~ she replied, trying to adjust to the sensation of having her awareness in two places at once, one part trembling in Manuel's arms in the after-shocks of sex, the other walking beside Manuel on her beach. ~The link disappeared when she cast the spell on me, but when you broke it... it was light, filling my head. The lighthouse seemed the best metaphor.~ She paused, then asked, her tone wondering rather than fearful: ~What's happening? How're we doing this?~
Manuel stopped to think about it, and felt the entire construct start to shimmer. When he stopped thinking about it, it firmed up. ~I have no idea.~ he said. ~I wanted to be open to you - no more secrets.~ His body moved slowly, unconsciously changing his rhythm to maximize both of their pleasures. Verbally, he groaned as the intensity of his feeling started to creep even higher. ~So hot.~ he thought distractedly.
~I... like it,~ she admitted. ~Scares me silly, but at the same time... I've never had someone so close to me before.~ Physically she bent her head to bite at his shoulder, almost drawing blood. "Want you so much," she muttered, thrusting against him. "Never want t' stop."
~I can tell.~ he said with a mental smirk. ~I've never felt this way about anyone. I didn't think that I _could_ feel this way. Still not sure I deserve to.~ he added, stepping the rhythm up somewhat, feeling the very beginnings of a very familiar and welcome onrush of sensations - and fighting against them, to make it last longer. "Don't stop. Ever." he said verbally with a particularly well-timed thrust upwards.
~We both deserve this,~ she told him fiercely, even as she gsaped out loud and ground herself against him harder. ~I don't care what you or anyone else thinks, we _deserve_ this.~ She raked her nails down his back, squeezing her legs tightly against his. "I won't stop. Not 'til you want me to."
Manuel arched his back as her nails raked against his sides and back. He threw himself against her, lost in the heady emotions and the physical flood of sensation radiating through him. Keeping only a small part of himself back, he strove to enter her in all ways - physically, mentally, and emotionally. He offered everything he was, everything he had, and everything he would ever be to her in one blinding moment of physical and emotional release.
The sensation was intoxicating, even as Amanda felt herself drowning under the welter of sensations, thoughts, feelings. Her mind, her very self, was full of him, what he was giving her filling the emptiness inside. Her mindscape exploded with light, bright, blinding, but even as she gave herself up to the moment, out of the corner of her awareness she caught 'sight' of a small girl, blonde and dressed in a white shift, and she moved to close off that part of her mind. Some lessons were learned too hard to give up.
Manuel couldn't begrudge her her secrets - he had his own, and it was probably better to keep some parts of themselves strictly to themselves. Panting, he looked up at Amanda and smiled tenderly. "Thank you - for everything." he said verbally and then clung to her as the tears started to fall. Deep inside of him, an icy part of his soul began to melt, just a little bit.
"No need t' thank me, love. I'll always be here," she murmured, kissing him softly on the forehead. "Always." The link was shrinking back again, as if aware there was only so much they could deal with, but Amanda felt a slight pang of regret - her mind felt... lonelier without him there. Then the wave of exhaustion hit and she realised that she'd been expending more than just physical energy. She held onto Manuel regardless - nothing would have made her let go at this point - and she stroked his hair, murmuring endearments in broken Romani.
Manuel took a good five minutes or so to get a grip on himself. "Now look at me. I'm a mess." he said with a relieved grin. He couldn't follow the broken Romani, but he understood the sentiment. "You never did tell me what kabaro means." he said quietly.
"You always look good, even when yer've been cryin'," she told him with a smile, wiping away some of the moisture on his cheeks with her thumb. The air was chilly on her sweaty skin as they both cooled down, and she shivered a little. "Kabaro means..." She grinned wickedly. "Literally, it means big dick. But it can also mean hard on. Considerin' the whole insatiable appetite thing, I thought it fit." There was a slight hint of a blush as she explained, though, and she hoped he wouldn't take offence. "What about sorgin? Fair's fair."
Manuel blinked, and then grinned. "Guess I can't complain too much about that. Sorgin - you're going to _laugh_ at me for this one - Sorgin is the Basque word for witch." He shrugged as best he could when laying flat on his back. "Not one of my more creative moments, I admit. But it works."
Pulling the sheet over herself with another shiver and cuddling up to Manuel's naked length, Amanda pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "It does work. An' I like it." There was a long pause, and then she asked in a sleepy murmur: "When did you know? That you loved me?"
"When did I know?" he repeated, then paused to think about it. "I'm really not sure - it's like part of me always knew, but I didn't know it until later. I think it was probably after the love potion - when you would help me with my power, be my friend when no one else would. Turnabout is fair play - when did you know? he asked too-casually, fingertips idly tracing a sigil branded into her side.
"England," she said quietly, fully aware of his sudden vulnerability. "After the link got blocked, an' you were writin' those posts in yer journal... I realised I didn't want t' be separated from you, an' not just because you made the shitty feelin's go away." She gave him a small, wry smile. "Slow learner," she added. "Took me ages t' even realise what I was feelin', an' even longer t' admit it t' myself. Not until after Rack an' you thought I was dead."
"England the first time, then." he said. "Dark days for both of us, I think. You detoxing nude in cold English screams, me learning to live life as a cripple." He then sighed again. "Have I apologized enough for that? I don't think that I have. I - I couldn't feel you anymore. That was terrifying - that there was someone else around who looked like you, sounded like you, but didn't _feel_ like you."
"There's been a lot of dark days," she said, cuddling closer. "For both of us. Which makes it all the better that we're sortin' things out now. Makes the shite worth it, just bein' here with you, bein' able t' tell you I love you an' not want t' run screamin'." She craned upwards and kissed his cheek, tasting salt. "An' you get t' apologise again only if I get t' say sorry for smackin' you one. I shouldn't have even been there - Nate an' Moira told me not to - an' I still went. 'Cause I'm too bloody stubborn for me own good."
"See, I like that about you. You've got spirit." he said with a grin. "I don't think I could love one of these sort of whiny spineless passive-aggressive types. Don't ever lose that spirit." he cautioned, then beeped her nose with a laugh. "And there have been a lot of dark days - that's why I'm glad we can find our way to make our own light."
"An' here I thought it was 'cause of me stunnin' good looks an' bubbly personality," she said with a chuckle, wrinkling her nose at him. Then she caught sight of the time and sighed. "Fuck, I'd better go. Maths an' all that. An' you have that economics stuff t' do."
Manuel rolled his eyes at Amanda. "Are you sure you haven't been replaced by the brain-sucking parasites?" he said drolly. "And yeah, I've got readings to do. Come back when your homework is done - I'd like to spend a quiet night in with you." He smooched her ear with a grin then, and rolled off the bed on the other side to find wherever it was that he discarded his pants to.
Poking her tongue out at him, Amanda sat up and stretched, admiring Manuel's naked body in his Quest For Pants. "I can do that," she replied easily, seeing his pants on the floor by the desk and floating them up to him. "I can even bring dinner, if you want." Her shirt was ripped thanks to Manuel's enthusiasm, so she got up and padded over to his wardrobe, selecting one of his dress shirts, this one pale blue cotton. The sleeves were enormously too long for her, so she rolled them up.
Manuel caught the tongue-sticking-out, and then hrmmed. "Hey, that reminds me. When did you want to go get the tongue-stud put back in? I miss it, and I'm sure you do too." he grinned as he finished putting on his pants. Deciding not to bother with the shirt, he paused to check the effect of Amanda's choice. "Not quite the shade of blue to really flatter you, but it'll do." he said. "Needs to be just a touch darker. Remind me to invest in Egyptian cotton when I next redo my wardrobe."
"The shirt feels good," Amanda said with a shrug. "'S why I picked it." She made a face as she considered just when she was going to be able to go to a piercing parlour. "It'll have t' wait until I ain't grounded," she said with a sigh. "No leavin' the grounds without special cause, an' as much as _we_ think it's important, I doubt the X geezer or Captain Fuckwad would see it that way. An' I don't want 'em addin' extra time 'cause I sloped off without permission. Feels bloody weird, not havin' anythin' in. An' it's gunna cost a bloody fortune, since it won't be Frank or his daughter doin' it."
"It's a good thing I get paid well by the White Queen, then." he said with a smile. "And I hadn't thought about that, but it makes sense. I will just have to persevere until then." he said with a very exaggerated put-upon sigh. "I'm sure your Beth misses it as much as I do." he said with a truly wicked leer. "And all my shirts feel good - I give away the ones that don't." he added somewhat cryptically. "My closet is sorted by feeling."
"I've still got some money saved up - you don't have t' pay for it. Just too bad I can't send the bill t' Asgard." Amanda grabbed her jeans and shrugged into them, glad the shirt was over-long as well, since it covered up the fact two of the buttons had been yanked off. "An' yeah, the tongue stud is missed by a lot of people. Still, me own stupidity got me grounded, so I'll just have t' grin an' bear it." She glanced over at Manuel curiously. "Speakin' of Beth, did you hear from the X geezer 'bout that HeliX thing?"
"Not yet, no." he said. "But I think that the party's a go. Not sure how much free time I'm going to have, as I am going to be acting as Charles's agent during the entire thing. But I should be able to get free long enough to spin the floor a few times." he said with a laugh. "Katherine promised me a dance. I find I am looking forward to collecting on it."
"Fair enough. An' the less time you two have t' compare notes on me, the better, maybe." Amanda's tone was light, but there was an edge to it, echoed by the tinge of anxiety down the link. "'M almost sorry I'm gunna miss it, dressin' up an' all. But you can have a good time for me, let me know what I'm missin'?"
Manuel stopped dead, and turned to face Amanda. "I felt that. You're worried. About Bethany and myself? I think you have nothing to fear - do you not trust your little human pet to be discreet? Or is she likely to kiss and tell?"
"What? Fuck, no!" The words burst out, and Amanda took a deep breath to calm herself. "First up, Beth ain't me pet, she's me friend. I don't like it when you talk 'bout her like that, like she ain't a person. Second... there's a lot she don't know 'bout me. Not 'cause I've been keepin' secrets, but 'cause there's so much that's fucked up in me life an' I didn't want her t' worry about it. 'Specially since Columbia. I just don't want her t' think I'm a total fuck up, is all."
Manuel shrugged. "A poor choice of words." he conceded. "Then, before this party, give me a list or at least some idea of acceptable things to talk about where you are concerned. I'm sure I should be able to keep her dazzled and talking of other things." he said with a smirk. "I will leave your confessions to you."
"Just don't mention exactly why I'm grounded. She knows 'bout the magic an' all, tho' not that I'm a junkie. I just don't want her thinkin' I could hurt her, is all." Amanda sighed again, scrubbed at her face with her hands. "Fuck. There goes me good mood. I should go, get the rest of me bloody homework done. I'll be in a better frame of mind later, I promise." After a cigarette or three - she'd have preferred a good stiff drink or a small jolt of power, but smoking would have to do.
Manuel looked sad as he watched Amanda's mood shift. "I'm sorry." He offered to her. "I didn't mean ... do you want me to cheer you up? Or would you like to talk it out tonight, after homework?" he asked, real worry in his voice and in his eyes. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he sat back down at his desk.
"Cheer me up later. Right now there's a dozen long division problems with me name on 'em, an' if we start up again, we'll be at it all night." Seeing his guilt, both figuratively and literally, her expression softened and she crossed to where he sat, hugging him from behind again. "'S all right, love. 'S not yer fault. Me an' me hangups, is all."
"I still feel bad, but you know that. Go on, git. Long division awaits you, and I've got macroeconomic theory to pore over. Mmm, supply and demand curves. Tasty stuff. IM me when you're done - and bring me food?" he said, brandishing a very rarely-used weapon in his arsenal - the Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom.
"You do pretty well at supplyin' me demands..." With a naughty giggle, Amanda nibbled on his ear, before straightening and sliding her arms from around his neck. "An' I think I can manage food. Real food, even, not that nasty microwave crap."
"I am almost drooling with anticipation." he said with a wicked grin, then turned back around to pick up his discarded Economics textbook. Back to Chapter One...
Warning - graphic sex scenes. But it's smut with character development. Really.
Manuel sat at his desk, staring at the pile of textbooks with something approximating horror. He held the top one in his hands, open to Page Two. He had started at Page One a half-hour ago. Sighing, he put the book down and reached for his laptop. ~Amanda, if you're not busy, can I see you in my room? I need a favor.~ he typed, and then sent the IM to her account.
For her part, Amanda had just finished her Arabic and Mandarin translation exercises (Nate's Mandarin folktale being far more entertaining than Haroun's Arabic homily) and was studiously ignoring her math problems when her AIM account pinged. ~Sure. What's up?~ she typed briefly.
~My brain hurts. Kiss it and make it all better? And bring your translation-spell.~ he typed, then sighed. He reached into his minifridge, and pulled out a Red Bull. Downing the can in a single swallow, he discarded the empty and picked up the textbook again. Maybe now it would make more sense once the caffeine hit him.
Amanda chuckled, both amused and pleased. For Manuel to _ask_ for help, especially magical help... ~Be right there.~ she replied, signing off and digging through the pile of books and parchments in her bottom desk drawer to find the right spell. The door to Manuel's suite was half-open when she got there, so she let herself in, ignoring John slouched on the couch watching cartoons and tapping on Manuel's bedroom door.
"It's open!" he said, not bothering to get up. He did however let his sense of relief and desperation touch the link slightly. "I could really use your help." he admitted once she had entered. "I've got a whole lot of reading to do, and none of it is making any sense."
"Ah. Thought that might be it." Amanda crossed the room to wrap her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Nate's class?" she asked, looking at the pile of book with distaste. They all looked big, complicated, and extremely boring.
"Most of it, yeah. The rest is econ. I like the courses, but this reading is going to _kill me_. Can you help me?" he said, trying to keep his desperation out of his voice and maintain some semblance of pride. He snuggled back into the hug for a second, just revelling in the contact. "I think I may have been overly ambitious this semester. Still, I cannot afford to fail again, as that went just _so well_ last time." he said with disgust, remembering Nathan and how it all ended.
"'S why I didn't take the class, even tho' Nate asked if I wanted to - me readin' ain't up t' scratch an' even the translation spell wouldn't help." She nuzzled his ear with her lips, before kissing his neck. "But, it will work for you. An' yer lucky - I've been workin' on this one, so it'll work better than last time."
Manuel closed his eyes for a second, then pushed his growing inclination to say "Hell with it!" to the homework and fool about with Amanda for the remainder of his afternoon aside. "I'd love to play, love, but I need to get this done." he said with a warm smile. "So go ahead and do your eye-of-newt thing, if you can."
"'If I can'," she snorted, pretending to be offended. "You forget yer dealin' with a witch prodigy here, love." Unwrapping her arms from around him, she lay down the scroll she was carrying on the desk and pulled a small jar of herbal ointment from her front pocket. Unrolling the scroll and setting the jar on the centre of it, she cleared her mind of nothing but the spell, a sensation of eerie calmness spilling down the link. "~Curse of Babel be undone, let the written word be clear...~" she read, the ancient words coming easily. When the invocation was complete, she picked up the jar again and opened it, smearing a little of the contents on Manuel's eyelids and forehead. "There, that should do it," she said, smiling at the face he was making.
Manuel knew better by this point then to try to wipe the gunk off his face. He picked up the book he had started, flipped back to Page One, and then smiled. It made _sense_ now! "Thanks a _lot_." he said physically and empathically. "This is wonderful. It makes sense now. How long will it last? And can you make enchanted objects, or is that still beyond you? I'd _love_ to get this spell in an amulet or a stone like my Norse one I got from Loki."
"It should last for a couple of weeks," Amanda said, leaning back against the desk a little tiredly. The spell wasn't a minor one, although it was far less effort than some of hers. "I dunno if I could enchant an amulet, but you never know until you try. 'Sides, could be somethin' I could do with Craig - he's one of Homily's people, makes a lot of gadgets. If I told him what I wanted, I think he could probably knock up somethin' for you."
Manuel grinned. "I'd be _extremely_ grateful." he said in his Bedroom Voice. "I want to learn this stuff on my own, but there's just no _time_. And I don't want to get ratfucked again by someone trying to do me a favor."
"No ratfuckin', I promise," Amanda said, nudging his chair around slightly so she could sit on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck again. "An' any time you need help, you can ask me. I might not be able t' do somethin' all the time, but if I can, you know I will."
"I wasn't thinking of you or your friend Craig." he said darkly. "You I know I can count on without reservation." He grinned at the wytch in his lap, and decided that Macroeconomics could _wait_ for a short while. "You seem to be feeling much better. Eating right, sleeping, all that stuff?"
"I've been horribly normal for the whole week," she said, chuckling. She was in far too good a mood to start another discussion on Nathan's 'failures'. "Food's actually lookin' good again, an' 'm gettin' better with the sleepin' - when I ain't gettin' the tour of Lee's fuckin' head, that is." She pulled a face. "Strange's teachin' me some of the mental stuff, an' I've been dreamwalking again. An' since I've been healin' Lee, guess where I ended up?"
Manuel quirked an eyebrow in his Vulcan impression. "Since I don't recall sensing any more explosions, I am guessing that it went tolerably well." he said. "I don't remember sensing you in my dreams - besides your normal presence there, of course." he smirked, then ran a fingertip down her jawline. "Do you think you might have enough energy left in you to spend the night?"
"No explosions," she confirmed, wriggling a little at the sensation. Manuel knew all of her spots intimately by now, and he used them shamelessly. "'M still fixin' the damage from the last one." She showed him the calluses that had appeared on her palms. "Didn't you have some work you wanted t' do?" she went on, nuzzling at his neck despite her words.
"I have a healthy list of things I want to do. Schoolwork is _somewhere_ on the list." he groaned as she hit one of _his_ spots. Curse her, she knew him too well. It was already getting hard to think and not just feel. "You're on the top of the list." he confirmed, then teased her earlobes with his fingertips.
"The top, eh?" Moving so she was straddling his lap rather than sitting across it, Amanda nibbled lightly at the soft skin just under his jaw, before moving up to kiss him, long and lingering. "Must be pretty important t' be there."
"It is." he said, finding rationality rapidly fleeing him. For fun, he opened up the link all the way. Might as well share. He returned the kiss, nice and slow, still missing the tongue-stud but determined to do a good job of things nonetheless. "You keep this up, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep my hands off of you."
She gasped a little as the full wave of emotion came down the link, and pressed herself against him a little more. "Since when have you ever been able t' keep yer hands off me?" she asked with a husky chuckle as he bit lightly on her neck.
Manuel grinned and kept nibbling at that neck of hers. "When you're sick is just about the only time I really want to." he said thickly. "And sometimes even that's a challenge. You have a choice. Chair, floor, wall, bed. Your pick." he leered.
"What, no ceilin'?" Amanda asked with a snicker that turned into a moan as Manuel's roaming hands found somewhere very interesting. "Wall," She managed, grinding against him slowly. "Seein' how I ain't sick any more."
"If you can work the levitation-spell, I'd do you on the ceiling. Could be fun." he grinned as he palmed her breasts through her clothes. "You up for it?" he grinned.
"Not quite yet," she pouted. "Needs more power than they let me have t' lift two for that long." She started working on the buttons of his shirt, bending forward and running her lips over the ridge of his collar bone. "But the minute I do, I'll take you up on that."
Manuel groaned and leaned back to allow her more access. "It's a date." he mumbled, finding rationality had just about fled completely. "I have _missed_ you."
She could feel just _how_ much through his pants and her jeans. "Wanna show me how much by fuckin' me senseless against the wall?" she asked, rubbing her thumbs over his nipples before sliding her hands downwards. She kissed him again, hard and demanding.
Manuel returned that kiss with interest. "I'll try not to break you." he said before tearing at her clothes, driven by a sudden need to see her skin, to feel it, to taste it. To possess her in ways that no one else could. Where fingers pushed material away, tongue followed.
"You won't," she gasped, before the sensations pouring down the link coupled with her own feelings to effectively short-circuit rational thought. She yanked her t-shirt off the rest of the way even as he started tearing at the buttons of her jeans, his mouth hot on her scarred skin. ~Love you,~ she thought blindly, even as she ran her nails down his back. ~I love you so fucking much.~
Manuel purred. ~Love you too~ he sent back, before arching his back and losing rationality altogether. He stood up - to better shed the remainder of his clothes and rip the rest of hers off of her body. Pushing her back down into the chair, he knelt down before her and spread her open as wide as the chair would allow. Grinning, he leaned forward and lapped at her like his very salvation depended on her experiencing as much pleasure as humanly possible in the shortest amount of time possible.
Already extremely aroused, half-mad with it, in fact, Amanda jerked and shuddered at the touch of Manuel's lips and tongue on her. Tilting her hips slightly so he could have better access, her nails bit into his shoulders, her moans and gasps becoming louder the more Manuel worked his magic on her.
Manuel was merciless, driven by need and by demons unseen. Just as she was about to hit her absolute limit, he stopped. Looking up at Amanda, he grinned, wiped the various fluids off his chin, and picked her up out of the chair to press her against the wall. Spreading her legs with one of his, he adjusted himself slightly and forced himself into her - not roughly to the point of pain, but not gently either. The very force and feel of it ripped a shuddering groan from his body.
Any disappointment she might have felt at Manuel not finishing her in the chair was quickly lost as he buried himself in her, pushing her back against the wall with each thrust. Bracing herself against the wall with the help of her telekinetic spell, Amanda cried out as he pushed into her, tightening her arms around his neck, arching into him. His need, his desire... it washed over the link, overwhelming thought, and she screamed his name as she came.
Manuel didn't last too much longer than she did - while he didn't get the stimulating she did, he was raging hard and making up for lost time. He screamed as he let himself go, not words so much as primal pure emotion, his very core being revealed for a split-second in all its shades of light and darkness. The moment couldn't last, though, and as the wave of orgasm fled and sanity returned, so he backed off from the link and the intensity of the experience. "One thing about sex with you - it's _never_ dull." he panted out with a spent grin.
"You can say that again," she replied, breathing heavily and unable to stop the truly silly grin on her face. Focussing as much as she was able, she floated the pair of them over to the bed, unwilling to let go for even the minute it would take. "Think we were makin' up for lost time," she continued, resting her forehead on his shoulder as the effort of the spell made itself felt: Manuel was bigger than Bethany. "Not that I mind, at all."
Manuel just grinned the grin of a man well-satisfied. "It's never dull." he repeated obligingly. "That took the edge off, at least." he said. "We can do the long, slow, and tender thing later tonight, if you'd like. All the cuddling you can possibly handle."
"'S a hard life, but I manage somehow," she told him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "I'll come by later - gotta finish that bloody maths homework. Wouldn't do t' get behind already."
"Homework!" Manuel blurted out. "Crap! I've got a ton of reading I need to do! Hopefully I'll have enough braincells later on to treat you right." he said with a leer. "But I need to get back to my reading."
She laughed at that - it was such a change from last term. "Give us another kiss an' then you can get back to it," she said. "Tho' you'll have t' lend me another shirt, since mine sort of got shredded. Again."
"Whoops." Manuel said, not at all regretful. "Closet's over there - take your pick." Looking at Amanda's nude form on his bed, he got a truly evil glint in his eye. "Anywhere in particular you'd like your kiss?" he grinned.
"Since you let me pick where we fucked, I think 's yer turn t' choose," she told him, relishing that glint. Manuel had been the very model of the solicitous boyfriend over the past week or so, but it was good to see he still retained some of his wickedness. There was such a thing as too nice, after all.
"My turn to choose. I do love those words." he said, keeping the evil glint that he knew she loved. He was trying to be a better man, a better boyfriend and a better lover, but dammit, sometimes he just had to be him! "I think I'm going to pick - your brain." he said, and then his eyes flashed red. Down the link he pushed their latest experience, compressed into a split-second of orgasmic _feeling_. Smirking, he waited to see her reaction.
Amanda's body stiffened, then shuddered at the sensation. A small whimper escaped her and for a moment she lay still, eyes closed, relishing Manuel's 'kiss' and the waves of feeling it generated. "You keep that up, an' the only homework we'll be doin' is sex ed," she said after a while, opening her eyes to smile at him wickedly.
"I'm taking that class." he pointed out. "I'd hate to fall behind in my homework." He paused to think for a second, and then grinned _evilly_. "I can do that trick from anywhere, you know." he commented. "Anywhere at all."
She probably should be disturbed by that idea, but Amanda was never one for accepting conventional limits of behaviour. "There'd be some explainin' t' do if you did it when I was workin' with Strange," she said, grinning. "An' that's not an invite, by the way. He's only just started talkin' t' me again after I stole the Orb off him."
Manuel nodded. "Give me a little credit for some sensitivity. I don't want to mess up your relationship with Strange." he said. "It's kinda cool, though. I could just be sitting there in class, bored out of my mind - I have an eidetic memory now, I'll always remember the lectures - and just decide that you need to get all hot and bothered. Might even need to get up, excuse yourself, and find a private place to get some relief." he smirked, eyes crossing slightly as he imagined that.
"Link works both ways, remember," she pointed out, grinning just as wickedly. "I ain't as good at it as you are, but I figure I can be pretty distractin'." To demonstrate, she imagined just what form that relief would take and how it would feel, and pushed the sensations back down the link to him.
Manuel's eyes crossed as he experienced Amanda's relief vividly. "Oh my." he said, looking down to find himself at full mast, so to speak. "Look what you did. You woke it up!" he said with a somewhat childish giggle. "Now whatever am I to do?"
"Cold shower?" Amanda suggested innocently.
Manuel scowled at Amanda. "That's no _FUN_!" he said, continuing to be childish. "_I_ think that - you need to be tickled!" And with that, he pounced at Amanda, careful not to land directly on her, and starting finding her admittedly few ticklish spots and exploiting them.
Shrieking with laughter Amanda tried to squirm away, grabbing at his wrists. "No fair!" she gasped, still giggling, as she managed to pin him down by virtue of sitting on him, holding his wrists above his head. "Yer not ticklish, so I can't get you back." Then a definite naughty expression crossed her face. "Not that way, at least." And with that she shifted slightly and slid him into her, agonisingly slowly, enjoying the dual sensation of what she was feeling and what he was.
Manuel grinned as he felt her envelop him achingly slowly. "My." is all he managed to get out, concentrating instead on their connection, both physical and mental. "I love you." he said to her, staring into her eyes for a few seconds before straining upwards for a kiss - not allowing himself to break out of her grip on his wrists. "Seems you have snared yourself a Manuel. In every way."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," she replied, leaning down for the kiss, the motion creating some very interesting sensations further down. "Manuels're good t' have."
Manuel returned the kiss, and experimentally wiggled just a little bit. "And there are lots of ways you like it." he retorted with a grin. "Standing up or laying down or up against the wall." he said, with a jerk of his head towards the scene of their latest tryst. "On your knees, on your stomach, on your back, on your side, in a stairwell, in the ladies' room, in the men's room, outside, in the lake, on the deck, in church..." he recited with a grin. "Did I miss any?"
"Pagan fertility sites," she replied, with a grin of her own. "An' the stables." She began to ride him, slowly, relishing the feeling and the expression on his face.
"Can't forget those. And my God, the stables. You were wild, just like the horses." he said, remembering. As she moved, he met her move for move, relishing each point of contact between their bodies. Letting go, letting her pick the pace and the angle, letting her do the work - felt good. Felt good in ways that it rarely ever had before. Experimentally, he opened his mind to her, throwing away all barriers and blocks.
"'M always wild, just sometimes I hide it better 'n others. An' you bring it out in me." She increased the pace a little, pushing herself down against him harder, faster. "No-one knows me like you do, love." Then the link... _changed_, shifted in her perceptions slightly, and she blinked as fragments of thoughts, images, came into her head.
"You were more primal then, more free. I thought you were going to wake everyone." he said, and then just lay back and concentrated on being open - snatches of thought, of feeling, floated over from her mind to his - and from his to hers. No secrets, nothing held back. Save one thing, which he was careful to keep tucked well-away. "No one possibly could know you like I do." he admitted. "And you know me better than anyone ever could."
She shivered at the depth of the connection, exhilarated and afraid all at the same time. Afraid of hurting him, mostly. Letting go of his wrists, she guided his hands to settle on her waist, bracing her own hands against his chest, moving against him faster now, more urgently. She wanted him all of him, and he was giving that to her. It terrified and thrilled her. ~Mine,~ she whispered softly into his head, sounding almost tentative.
~Yours~ he thought back. ~Don't be afraid of it. I give it freely.~ he sent to her, as his body moved. ~I would never hurt you. Don't fear me.~ His body cooperated with hers, settling into the easy rhythm that they had established. ~I want you so much.~
~Not afraid of you. Afraid of me,~ she replied, eyes closed now, concentrating on the feelings, the physical and the psychic, that were threatening to undo her entirely. ~I don't want to hurt you, love.~ She opened her eyes, looked into his. "I love you. Always."
Those words, even now, still sent a frission of feeling up and down Manuel's spine. They made him feel safe, wanted, needed in ways that he hadn't since he was a boy. ~What do you fear?~ he asked her mentally, not even realizing that this was the first time their link had gone fully telepathic consciously. "I am yours." he replied to her.
She couldn't frame the answer in words, so she gave it to him in images instead, a conglomeration of how she'd felt in Limbo, full of dark power, of Rack, and his plans for her, of the Enchantress, and her promises, of her being consumed by the darker side of the magic. Even the fight with Jubilee, and the satisfaction she'd felt in inflicting pain. ~Me.~ she 'said', pulling him upwards so he was sitting upright whilst she still moved against him - she needed to feel his arms around her. ~I'm afraid of me, that there's something dark inside me. Something that'll hurt you.~ Her mental 'voice' lacked the accent of her speaking voice, coming through clear and unhindered.
~You think you are dark?~ he thought back, and sent some of his own images over to her. Himself and Doug, trapped in a positive feedback loop. Amsterdam and the nightclub. Lorna, how her spite and petty revenge drove hot spikes through him until he lashed out the only way he could. Bobby icing the kitchen. Nathan abandoning him, leaving Manuel so bare that he had to lash out to cover himself. And lastly - the Man in the Chair. The empty shell of himself, a mockery of feeling. ~I have so much that is dark. You are my bright spot.~ he sent back as he clung onto her as if welded there.
~And you're mine.~ Without realising it, Amanda pulled Manuel's mind into hers, onto the beach that was the centre of her mental landscape. It was the same as when Manuel had entered her dreams, with one exception. A lighthouse a little way down the shore, both close and far way at the same time. The light was lit, shining in one direction, towards Amanda's beach. ~You're the light that brings me back,~ she told him, even as the demands of their bodies broke her concentration and she drew him deep into her, as far as he would go, shuddering in his arms. ~No more chains. Only light.~
Manuel rode out her shuddering orgasm, still nowhere near having another one - not so soon after his first. But he kept moving, kept her pleasure going while increasing his own slowly. He looked around the beach that was her mindscape, and the warm light that was her representation of their link together. ~I so need to come up with something more fitting to you. A painting, no matter how rich, just doesn't do it justice anymore.~ he said, walking along the water's edge.
~It changed, after Asgard,~ she replied, trying to adjust to the sensation of having her awareness in two places at once, one part trembling in Manuel's arms in the after-shocks of sex, the other walking beside Manuel on her beach. ~The link disappeared when she cast the spell on me, but when you broke it... it was light, filling my head. The lighthouse seemed the best metaphor.~ She paused, then asked, her tone wondering rather than fearful: ~What's happening? How're we doing this?~
Manuel stopped to think about it, and felt the entire construct start to shimmer. When he stopped thinking about it, it firmed up. ~I have no idea.~ he said. ~I wanted to be open to you - no more secrets.~ His body moved slowly, unconsciously changing his rhythm to maximize both of their pleasures. Verbally, he groaned as the intensity of his feeling started to creep even higher. ~So hot.~ he thought distractedly.
~I... like it,~ she admitted. ~Scares me silly, but at the same time... I've never had someone so close to me before.~ Physically she bent her head to bite at his shoulder, almost drawing blood. "Want you so much," she muttered, thrusting against him. "Never want t' stop."
~I can tell.~ he said with a mental smirk. ~I've never felt this way about anyone. I didn't think that I _could_ feel this way. Still not sure I deserve to.~ he added, stepping the rhythm up somewhat, feeling the very beginnings of a very familiar and welcome onrush of sensations - and fighting against them, to make it last longer. "Don't stop. Ever." he said verbally with a particularly well-timed thrust upwards.
~We both deserve this,~ she told him fiercely, even as she gsaped out loud and ground herself against him harder. ~I don't care what you or anyone else thinks, we _deserve_ this.~ She raked her nails down his back, squeezing her legs tightly against his. "I won't stop. Not 'til you want me to."
Manuel arched his back as her nails raked against his sides and back. He threw himself against her, lost in the heady emotions and the physical flood of sensation radiating through him. Keeping only a small part of himself back, he strove to enter her in all ways - physically, mentally, and emotionally. He offered everything he was, everything he had, and everything he would ever be to her in one blinding moment of physical and emotional release.
The sensation was intoxicating, even as Amanda felt herself drowning under the welter of sensations, thoughts, feelings. Her mind, her very self, was full of him, what he was giving her filling the emptiness inside. Her mindscape exploded with light, bright, blinding, but even as she gave herself up to the moment, out of the corner of her awareness she caught 'sight' of a small girl, blonde and dressed in a white shift, and she moved to close off that part of her mind. Some lessons were learned too hard to give up.
Manuel couldn't begrudge her her secrets - he had his own, and it was probably better to keep some parts of themselves strictly to themselves. Panting, he looked up at Amanda and smiled tenderly. "Thank you - for everything." he said verbally and then clung to her as the tears started to fall. Deep inside of him, an icy part of his soul began to melt, just a little bit.
"No need t' thank me, love. I'll always be here," she murmured, kissing him softly on the forehead. "Always." The link was shrinking back again, as if aware there was only so much they could deal with, but Amanda felt a slight pang of regret - her mind felt... lonelier without him there. Then the wave of exhaustion hit and she realised that she'd been expending more than just physical energy. She held onto Manuel regardless - nothing would have made her let go at this point - and she stroked his hair, murmuring endearments in broken Romani.
Manuel took a good five minutes or so to get a grip on himself. "Now look at me. I'm a mess." he said with a relieved grin. He couldn't follow the broken Romani, but he understood the sentiment. "You never did tell me what kabaro means." he said quietly.
"You always look good, even when yer've been cryin'," she told him with a smile, wiping away some of the moisture on his cheeks with her thumb. The air was chilly on her sweaty skin as they both cooled down, and she shivered a little. "Kabaro means..." She grinned wickedly. "Literally, it means big dick. But it can also mean hard on. Considerin' the whole insatiable appetite thing, I thought it fit." There was a slight hint of a blush as she explained, though, and she hoped he wouldn't take offence. "What about sorgin? Fair's fair."
Manuel blinked, and then grinned. "Guess I can't complain too much about that. Sorgin - you're going to _laugh_ at me for this one - Sorgin is the Basque word for witch." He shrugged as best he could when laying flat on his back. "Not one of my more creative moments, I admit. But it works."
Pulling the sheet over herself with another shiver and cuddling up to Manuel's naked length, Amanda pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "It does work. An' I like it." There was a long pause, and then she asked in a sleepy murmur: "When did you know? That you loved me?"
"When did I know?" he repeated, then paused to think about it. "I'm really not sure - it's like part of me always knew, but I didn't know it until later. I think it was probably after the love potion - when you would help me with my power, be my friend when no one else would. Turnabout is fair play - when did you know? he asked too-casually, fingertips idly tracing a sigil branded into her side.
"England," she said quietly, fully aware of his sudden vulnerability. "After the link got blocked, an' you were writin' those posts in yer journal... I realised I didn't want t' be separated from you, an' not just because you made the shitty feelin's go away." She gave him a small, wry smile. "Slow learner," she added. "Took me ages t' even realise what I was feelin', an' even longer t' admit it t' myself. Not until after Rack an' you thought I was dead."
"England the first time, then." he said. "Dark days for both of us, I think. You detoxing nude in cold English screams, me learning to live life as a cripple." He then sighed again. "Have I apologized enough for that? I don't think that I have. I - I couldn't feel you anymore. That was terrifying - that there was someone else around who looked like you, sounded like you, but didn't _feel_ like you."
"There's been a lot of dark days," she said, cuddling closer. "For both of us. Which makes it all the better that we're sortin' things out now. Makes the shite worth it, just bein' here with you, bein' able t' tell you I love you an' not want t' run screamin'." She craned upwards and kissed his cheek, tasting salt. "An' you get t' apologise again only if I get t' say sorry for smackin' you one. I shouldn't have even been there - Nate an' Moira told me not to - an' I still went. 'Cause I'm too bloody stubborn for me own good."
"See, I like that about you. You've got spirit." he said with a grin. "I don't think I could love one of these sort of whiny spineless passive-aggressive types. Don't ever lose that spirit." he cautioned, then beeped her nose with a laugh. "And there have been a lot of dark days - that's why I'm glad we can find our way to make our own light."
"An' here I thought it was 'cause of me stunnin' good looks an' bubbly personality," she said with a chuckle, wrinkling her nose at him. Then she caught sight of the time and sighed. "Fuck, I'd better go. Maths an' all that. An' you have that economics stuff t' do."
Manuel rolled his eyes at Amanda. "Are you sure you haven't been replaced by the brain-sucking parasites?" he said drolly. "And yeah, I've got readings to do. Come back when your homework is done - I'd like to spend a quiet night in with you." He smooched her ear with a grin then, and rolled off the bed on the other side to find wherever it was that he discarded his pants to.
Poking her tongue out at him, Amanda sat up and stretched, admiring Manuel's naked body in his Quest For Pants. "I can do that," she replied easily, seeing his pants on the floor by the desk and floating them up to him. "I can even bring dinner, if you want." Her shirt was ripped thanks to Manuel's enthusiasm, so she got up and padded over to his wardrobe, selecting one of his dress shirts, this one pale blue cotton. The sleeves were enormously too long for her, so she rolled them up.
Manuel caught the tongue-sticking-out, and then hrmmed. "Hey, that reminds me. When did you want to go get the tongue-stud put back in? I miss it, and I'm sure you do too." he grinned as he finished putting on his pants. Deciding not to bother with the shirt, he paused to check the effect of Amanda's choice. "Not quite the shade of blue to really flatter you, but it'll do." he said. "Needs to be just a touch darker. Remind me to invest in Egyptian cotton when I next redo my wardrobe."
"The shirt feels good," Amanda said with a shrug. "'S why I picked it." She made a face as she considered just when she was going to be able to go to a piercing parlour. "It'll have t' wait until I ain't grounded," she said with a sigh. "No leavin' the grounds without special cause, an' as much as _we_ think it's important, I doubt the X geezer or Captain Fuckwad would see it that way. An' I don't want 'em addin' extra time 'cause I sloped off without permission. Feels bloody weird, not havin' anythin' in. An' it's gunna cost a bloody fortune, since it won't be Frank or his daughter doin' it."
"It's a good thing I get paid well by the White Queen, then." he said with a smile. "And I hadn't thought about that, but it makes sense. I will just have to persevere until then." he said with a very exaggerated put-upon sigh. "I'm sure your Beth misses it as much as I do." he said with a truly wicked leer. "And all my shirts feel good - I give away the ones that don't." he added somewhat cryptically. "My closet is sorted by feeling."
"I've still got some money saved up - you don't have t' pay for it. Just too bad I can't send the bill t' Asgard." Amanda grabbed her jeans and shrugged into them, glad the shirt was over-long as well, since it covered up the fact two of the buttons had been yanked off. "An' yeah, the tongue stud is missed by a lot of people. Still, me own stupidity got me grounded, so I'll just have t' grin an' bear it." She glanced over at Manuel curiously. "Speakin' of Beth, did you hear from the X geezer 'bout that HeliX thing?"
"Not yet, no." he said. "But I think that the party's a go. Not sure how much free time I'm going to have, as I am going to be acting as Charles's agent during the entire thing. But I should be able to get free long enough to spin the floor a few times." he said with a laugh. "Katherine promised me a dance. I find I am looking forward to collecting on it."
"Fair enough. An' the less time you two have t' compare notes on me, the better, maybe." Amanda's tone was light, but there was an edge to it, echoed by the tinge of anxiety down the link. "'M almost sorry I'm gunna miss it, dressin' up an' all. But you can have a good time for me, let me know what I'm missin'?"
Manuel stopped dead, and turned to face Amanda. "I felt that. You're worried. About Bethany and myself? I think you have nothing to fear - do you not trust your little human pet to be discreet? Or is she likely to kiss and tell?"
"What? Fuck, no!" The words burst out, and Amanda took a deep breath to calm herself. "First up, Beth ain't me pet, she's me friend. I don't like it when you talk 'bout her like that, like she ain't a person. Second... there's a lot she don't know 'bout me. Not 'cause I've been keepin' secrets, but 'cause there's so much that's fucked up in me life an' I didn't want her t' worry about it. 'Specially since Columbia. I just don't want her t' think I'm a total fuck up, is all."
Manuel shrugged. "A poor choice of words." he conceded. "Then, before this party, give me a list or at least some idea of acceptable things to talk about where you are concerned. I'm sure I should be able to keep her dazzled and talking of other things." he said with a smirk. "I will leave your confessions to you."
"Just don't mention exactly why I'm grounded. She knows 'bout the magic an' all, tho' not that I'm a junkie. I just don't want her thinkin' I could hurt her, is all." Amanda sighed again, scrubbed at her face with her hands. "Fuck. There goes me good mood. I should go, get the rest of me bloody homework done. I'll be in a better frame of mind later, I promise." After a cigarette or three - she'd have preferred a good stiff drink or a small jolt of power, but smoking would have to do.
Manuel looked sad as he watched Amanda's mood shift. "I'm sorry." He offered to her. "I didn't mean ... do you want me to cheer you up? Or would you like to talk it out tonight, after homework?" he asked, real worry in his voice and in his eyes. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he sat back down at his desk.
"Cheer me up later. Right now there's a dozen long division problems with me name on 'em, an' if we start up again, we'll be at it all night." Seeing his guilt, both figuratively and literally, her expression softened and she crossed to where he sat, hugging him from behind again. "'S all right, love. 'S not yer fault. Me an' me hangups, is all."
"I still feel bad, but you know that. Go on, git. Long division awaits you, and I've got macroeconomic theory to pore over. Mmm, supply and demand curves. Tasty stuff. IM me when you're done - and bring me food?" he said, brandishing a very rarely-used weapon in his arsenal - the Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom.
"You do pretty well at supplyin' me demands..." With a naughty giggle, Amanda nibbled on his ear, before straightening and sliding her arms from around his neck. "An' I think I can manage food. Real food, even, not that nasty microwave crap."
"I am almost drooling with anticipation." he said with a wicked grin, then turned back around to pick up his discarded Economics textbook. Back to Chapter One...
