xp_logs | Amanda, Nathan - Sunday morning (Reply)

Amanda drops by to give Nathan a preview of her Halloween costume. He's suitably impressed.

Amanda was having a certain amount of sympathy with Willow - the breathing thing was definitely an issue in this get-up. She tugged the coat she'd flung on over the top of her costume a little more securely around herself, pulled Manuel's fedora lower over her hair, and knocked on Nate and Moira's door. Marie-Ange's reaction had been positive, but then again they'd been in that giggly state achieved by breathing in too many hair dye fumes and eating too many Halloween sweets. Time to test things out on a untainted sample.

"Come in?" Nathan called out, his voice still hoarse with weariness as he straightened in his chair, saving the half-written email to Anika and turning towards the door. It opened to reveal a rather maniacally grinning Amanda, in a coat and fedora, and he blinked warily.
"Whaaat."

"Halloween costume," she informed him, bouncing a little on her toes. Quite the feet considering the heels on the boots. "Wanted t' give you the sneak preview - can I come in?"

He smiled for the first time in days. "Why not?" he asked, gesturing for her to come in. "Halloween... Moira and I were going to do something, but, well..."

"I'd invite you t' crash our party, but somehow I can't see either of you enjoyin' a nightclub. Place gets pretty loud. Still, with most of us gone, you can have a quiet night in, with just sugar-high munchkins t' keep you busy." Amanda came in, pausing to pat his cheek lightly. "You sleepin' at all? You look tired," she added, with that faintly worried look she usually aimed at him at some point in proceedings.

"Been a really long week," Nathan said wryly. "And I'm not sure I'm not still jetlagged." He gave her an up-and-down look. "Humphrey Bogart?" he ventured.

She poked her tongue out at him. "This is just t' cover-up. Wouldn't do t' spoil the surprise." She took off the slightly too-large hat, revealing hair that had been dyed coppery red, and then the coat. Vampire Willow had a thing for skintight leather, and the pants were definitely snug. The low cut of the bustier and red blouse underneath it meant that some of the scarring showed, but Amanda didn't mind. Halloween was all about pretend, and she was going to pretend the scars weren't there. "What d'you think?" she asked, twirling around for him. "Suitably vampy?"

Nathan blinked. And blinked. And maybe his jaw had dropped, just a little. "I... uh. Well. Vampy? Yes. Very vampy." He blinked a little more, and then realization hit. "Oh! From that show Dom likes! She kept running around going 'Bored now' for weeks on end..."

Amanda grinned rather disturbingly gleefully at him. "That's it," she said. She'd taken out the ear-rings and switched her other piercings for small studs, to minimise the effect. She tilted her head at him. "Yer blushin'."

"Oh, and that wasn't the effect you were trying to achieve, was it?" Nathan mocked gently, shaking his head. "Shown it to the boyfriend yet?"

The grin turned wicked. "Not yet - I didn't want it gettin' torn off until I've actually had a chance t' wear it." She pivoted again, looking down at herself. "Angie's wrong - you can't have too much leather, I've decided. What d'you think, nearly good enough for one of the bondage brigade uniforms, eh?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at the first comment, then shook his head at the question. "Well," he said dryly, "there's certain the distraction factor. The bad guys would be too busy gaping, and then the rest of us could rush in and beat them up..."

She laughed at that, and stopped preening long enough to give him a brief hug. "That's exactly the reaction I was after," she told him, brushing her hair back out of her face. The red quite suited her pale complexion, actually. "Beth's comin' t' this thing, an' I was wantin' her jaw t' hit the floor. Think this'll manage it."

Nathan brightened considerably. Dressing up for Beth was good. He liked Beth. "Mi'caehla, I think there'll be jaws dropping all over the place when everyone sees you in that."

She blushed at that, pleased. "Least until they see Beth - she's goin' as Faith. The bad girl Slayer?" She grinned again. "Took me forever t' convince her."

Nathan blinked at the image, then shook his head. "You'd better be planning to have someone take a picture for Dom," he pointed out, unable to help a brief grin. "Otherwise she'd be terribly disappointed in you."

"'M usin' it as bribery material t' try an' get her t' visit sometime soon," she said. "Pictures from Halloween, an' the chance t' kick Doug in the pants. An' possibly Angie - depends on how she takes the news 'bout the baby bondage brigade trainin'."

"Angie?" Nathan blinked. "Um, what?"

"Oh shite. Looks like I let the cat out of the bag..." Amanda gave him her best innocent look. "Um, nothin'?"

Nathan shook his head. "Angie wants to train? Huh..." He wouldn't have foreseen that. And he definitely needed to talk to her. He frowned a little, remembering some of what Cain had had to say last weekend.

"After Doug's stunt... she wants t' make sure nothin' like that happens again. Use her powers t' help people. Not just the pre-cog, but the images too. Asgard changed her attitudes a bit." Amanda bit her lip a little. "Don't tell her I told? I didn't realise she hadn't talked t' you 'bout it yet."

"I haven't really been around to talk to," Nathan pointed out with a faint, humorless smile. "But I won't tell, don't worry." He tilted his head at her. "You're not thinking along those same lines, are you?" he asked.

"Me? Fuck, no. I find enough trouble without lookin' t' be a hero." She perched on one the armchair arms, realising that if she sat down she's possibly need help getting back up again. The pants were tight. Her expression turned pensive, however. "Still thinkin' 'bout what t'do with meself after school." A mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Dom said I had a knack for thievin'."

"Dom thinks you have a knack for many things," Nathan said dryly, "some of which I don't want to think about too hard, thank you very much. But she's right about how useful your magic could be in unusual situations." He smiled again, even more wearily. "I know you don't want to get involved in anything that means hurting people, but there is a line, and you can stay to one side of it if you're careful..."

"That's what we were talkin' about, after the job in Istanbul. I want t' talk t' Pete an' Rom about it, but y'know, I wouldn't mind doin' that sort of thing on a regular basis. Besides, if I hang around with Dom, I figure her power'll cancel out my knack for gettin' in the shite." She tilted her head and looked at him again. "You really look tired, Nate. Anythin' I can help with?"

Nathan shrugged. "Wouldn't mind your sleep potion for a couple of nights," he admitted reluctantly. "The nightmares are really bad. Moira's got me taking her evil little green pills, but all they seem to do is keep me from waking up." And it wasn't just not waking up from the nightmares that bothered him, it was the idea of not waking up if his mental tag on Mick alerted him to any problems.

"That I can do, easy," she said. She hesitated a moment, then asked. "The kid, Kyle... How's he doin'?"

"Better," Nathan said, managing a faint smile. "This is a good place for him to be right now, I think. He'll get the help he needs."

"'S that kind of place, ain't it?" Amanda replied with a grin.