Amanda, Angelo - Monday afternoon

[xp_daytripper]

After lying low for a while after the disaster of seeign Manuel, Amanda visits Angelo to give him his present. It goes much better, even though Amanda's rather evasive about several things. Apparently Vegas brought back a couple of old habits, although the reasons are much better this time.



When Amanda wanted to hide, she was very good at it, but she knew if she kept low for too long, people would get worried. And she was sick and tired of people being worried about her. Especially straight after the happy post in her journal - why was it every time she felt good, something happened to stomp on it? Something to do with Manuel usually, a nasty voice in the back of her head pointed out. She shoved it away, concentrating on regaining the tattered remains of her earlier good mood before she knocked on Angelo's door. "Hey, big brother. You in? I come bearin' presents."

Angelo opened the door almost immediately, grinning at her. "Hey, little sis. Welcome home. Come on in."

She did, pausing to give him a hug as she did. "Got it early this mornin' an' overslept when I did get t' sleep," she said by way of explanation for why she hadn't come earlier. It was a small lie, one that wouldn't do any harm. "Want yer present now?"

He hugged her back, laughing as Joyita jumped off the bed to snuffle around their feet, and nodded eagerly on releasing her. "Sure thing. How was your trip?"

"Can't tell you too much 'bout the first part - Pete says it ain't safe for any of us t' give details - but I can say it went down all right an' 'm bloody glad 's over." She bent to pat Joyita with a smile that wasn't as fake as the first one had felt. "The second half, with Nate? Bloody brilliant." Straightening, she gave him a mischievous look. "Hold our yer hand an' close yer eyes, and you'll see what I mean."

He gave her a slightly confused look, but duly did as he was told, waiting for whatever she had in mind.

Slipping the last touchstone (she'd given Moira's to Nathan to pass on) out of her pocket, she lay it in his hand. After the scene with Manuel, she wanted him to experience the effect first, rather than seeing a rather plain bit of rock. "Feel it?" she asked quietly.

He closed his hand around the stone, eyes still closed, with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I do. And I can see the stars, too. Where'd you get this?"

"I made it," she said with quiet pride. Regardless of everything that had happened since, regardless of Manuel and Arcade and all the rest of it, she could take pride in this. "On a picnic bench on the road t' Santa Fe night before last."

After another long moment, he opened his eyes, reaching for her hand with the one that wasn't holding the stone and giving it a quick squeeze. "It's a great present. Thank you."

"Yer welcome," she said, beaming at him despite the sudden prickling of her eyes. "You always said one of the best parts of livin'here was bein' able t' see the stars, so I thought yer'd like it. 'S the thing 'bout bein' down there - 's got a lot of power. More 'n enough. Like Mexico had."

He grinned, reaching down to scratch Joyita's ears before dropping casually to sit on the bed and drawing his legs up under him. "Hope you had enough power to make one for yourself as well? I know you like the stars too, an' it sounds like somethin' you'd want to remember..."

"Don't need to - 's all up here, ain't it?" she said, tapping her temple with a grin as she grabbed his desk chair and sat on it backwards, leaning her arms on the chairback and swivelling it slightly back and forth. "Made three. One for Moira, one for you, an' one for Manuel." There, she managed his name without stumbling. Good to know she could still pull out the old poker face when she needed it. Vegas had been good for that.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess. If you need a refresher, though, you can always borrow this back for a night or however long. You just have to ask."

That was Angelo, always so generous. "'S fine, big brother - 's yers. I've got a good memory, remember? But thanks." She rested her chin on her arms across the back of the chair. "So, it was quiet here while we were gone?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, it really was. Between finals an' you lot bein' gone, the place seemed pretty dead for a bit. Should liven up again now - in the good way - now you're all back an' the exams are over."

"Exams? Fuck, forgot all 'bout 'em." Amanda looked panicked for a moment, and then relaxed a little. "They'll give us extra time, those of us who went off, yeah? 'Cause otherwise this whole semester's fucked."

He grinned reassuringly. "Oh, I'm sure they will. Wouldn't exactly be fair if they didn't, given that it was an official trip."

"Too bloody right it wouldn't be fair," she replied. "Fuck, 'm so far behind any way, what with all the healin' I was doin', an' Halloween an' Hellfire an' the rest... makes me wonder why I bother. Seems like I'll never catch up." She scrubbed one hand through her hair. "Still, there's people can help, an' the language classes'll be fine - even if I let everythin' else drop, I keep up with those."

"Worst comes to worst, you stay in school another year", he pointed out reasonably. "Wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"Well, considerin' I wasn't lookin' at graduatin' for another year or two..." At his look, she chuckled. "Yeah, 'm that far behind, Ange. I could barely read an' write when I came here, an' I've made huge progress, but I ain't anywhere near finishin' yet - 'm in the same maths class as Kyle, for goodness' sake." Her tone wasn't bitter, more ironically amused.

He thought about that, absently stroking the dog in his lap. "You gettin' any extra tutorin' to help you catch up, or just the regular classes?"

"Some. Lorna, before... well, y'know. Nate, when he's up for it. Moira's been teachin' me a lot 'bout science an' the like in the medlab. 'M gettin' by, 's just a lot t' catch up on, y'know? An' I suck at numbers." Amanda shrugged. "I never paid that much attention in school before, back home, an' now 'm havin' t' make up for it. I'll get there, just not by next summer. Maybe the one after, if I can just get a decent run of study goin'."

Angelo grinned wryly. "Yeah, I've been there - not like I was the world's best student back in LA, an' there was that time I missed after the fire... but I think I'm gonna graduate this year. Doesn't mean I'm goin' anywhere, though, I haven't even decided for sure what I want to do yet."

"Nate an' I talked 'bout that... Yer probably in the same boat as me, still workin' out you have a future, let alone what t' do with it." Her answering grin was just as wry. "Any ideas?"

His expression turned ironic. "Before she left, Cecilia suggested maybe I should think about law enforcement, 'cause I'm into languages an' combat class an' all that. 's still the best idea I've got."

With effort, Amanda swallowed the snort. "You, a copper? Well, that'd be one for the books wouldn't it?" Then she tilted her head a little, seriously considering the idea. "Then again, it ain't so stupid. You like helpin' people, yer've got that whole protective streak goin' on, you stick up for those that can't stick up for 'emselves... I can't see you as one of those career coppers, the ones in the suits, but yer'd probably be good on the ground, a plod. Sure enough of 'em were bastards in London an' Brighton, but there was some who were okay, did their best t' help. Yer'd be one of those sort, I reckon."

He pulled a face at the notion of ever being a "career copper", but nodded to the rest of it. "If I get any say in it, yeah. 's still only an idea, though, got awhile to think about it yet."

Amanda nodded. "Penty of time," she said, then glanced at the clock radio near his bed. "'Cept not now - I've got t' go down t' medlab, let Moira poke an' prod me - she likes t' make sure I've put everythin' in the right place after a healin'." And she very carefully avoiding touching the new scar in her eyebrow - that whole part of the job would be impossible to explain without Angelo getting more protective than Nathan had.

Angelo blinked, his big brother radar picking up the one significant word in that. "Healin'?"

"What was left over from the Hellfire Club," she said, tilting her face to show him the absence of bruising there - she'd still been sporting the remains of a black eye when she'd left, plus any number of bruises on her ribs and legs. "When I got the recharge, I sort of automatically healed all that up, but Moira wants t' check the ribs're okay. She fusses."

He nodded, having no reason not to take that on face value. "Good to see you all fixed up, anyway."

"Good t' be fixed up," Amanda greed, unwrapping herself from the chair and standing up. "Sorry t' gift an' run, but yeah, gotta go." She gave him a lopsided smile. "Maybe it'll help you with the sleepin'?"

He grinned back. "I think it might at that. The feelin' you tied up in it, the peace... Should help a lot."

"Good," she said, coming forward to pat Joyita, and to give his shoulder a brief squeeze. "See you around, big brother."

He caught her hand as it fell, squeezing it equally quickly before letting go. "See you soon, little sis."