xp_logs | Angelo and Amanda, on the back porch

They race each other down there and talk about Amanda's trip to Germany, Dance Dance Revolution, and runic tattoos. Set before Amanda and Miles' Snow War with Nathan.

If you listened very carefully (or you had enhanced hearing), you would have heard the sound of two sets of doors being flung open and then closed, and two sets of feet, one pair in Doc Martens, the other pair in sneakers come thundering down opposite ends of the hallway, and then down the stairs. Two sets of voices, one female and giggling, the other male and taunting good-naturedly as Amanda and Angelo raced each other down to the back porch.

Amanda ducked under Angelo's arm as he grabbed the banister, using her shorter height to her advantage, although Angelo's longer legs and better fitness (since he'd been doing more exercise, walking Joyita and all, than she had) meant he would catch up to her soon enough. "Last one there's a rotten egg!" she cried, skidding around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and nearly colliding with a hapless student on their way to the kitchen for breakfast.

Angelo just managed to avoid crashing into the same unfortunate student as he raced after her, gaining on her rapidly. "We'll see about that!" he called, laughing.

Glancing over her shoulder, she squealed as she saw him gaining on her, and tried to put on an extra burst of speed, but he had the advantage now and overtook her just as they reached the back door. Together they tumbled through the door and onto the back porch, where Amanda flopped against the railing, laughing and gasping for breath. "I... think... I need... to lay off... these..." she managed, waving the packet of cigarettes she'd pulled out of her jacket at him.

He snickered and snagged them out of her hand lightly, taking one out before returning the pack. "Yeah, Nathan keeps tellin' me I should too. An' I will. Sometime."

"Then what would we do?" she asked rhetorically with a grin, taking out a cigarette of her own and stuffing the pack back into her pocket as she flicked on her lighter. "Yer lookin' good, big brother. Good break for the rest of it?"

"It was, yeah", he answered, grinning back at her and flopping down into the swing seat. "Yours?"

"Yeah, not bad..." She perched herself up on the railing, strangely reluctant to sit next to him for some reason. It felt... odd. Like there was something in the way. "I went an' saw the Pack in Berlin, an' since I was in Germany anyway..." She paused and then blurted it out. "I met my birth family, the ones Wanda found."

He sat up straighter at that, looking at her carefully in an attempt to judge how it had gone. "Yeah?"

She nodded, grinning at his caution. "It went all right. I'm not about t' rush back t' the bosom of me family or nothin', but... they're all right. Stefan, he's me brother, we got on good, an' Margali's got that whole magic user vibe goin', so 's someone else t' talk to about the magic. Jimaine, me sister, tho'... don't think she likes me much."

"She's the youngest, right?" Angelo asked. "Any idea why, or is she just bein' bratty?"

"Not sure... Part of it's the fact I got all the power in the family an' she got squat. Annoys the hell out of her, I think, from what she said. An' I get the impression she grew up hearin' stories 'bout her amazin' older sister who got taken away from them." Amanda looked sympathetic. "Think if I had to listen t' that all me life, I'd be a bit narky at the real article when she turned up to. You wouldn't believe it tho', Ange - she looks exactly like me. Well, me like I was in Asgard, 'cept for the clothes of course."

Angelo nodded, with a slight grin. "I'd like to meet them sometime, maybe", he ventured. "I'm guessin' you'll be keepin' in touch with them, at least?"

"Yeah, I think I will. I mean, they're travellin' 'round a lot, but Stefan at least has a phone I can call him on. An' I'd like you to, meet 'em that is." She snickered. "Next time they have one of those Family Days? Maybe I should invite 'em, as well as Rom. 'This is me mum, an' this is the other mum, the one that actually had me'..."

"Maybe you should", he answered wickedly. "Did they say anythin' about comin' to visit, when you were there?"

"Margali was interested in the place, what sort of school it was, how safe, what I was learnin' an' all that. So yeah, maybe. I don't really know." She took a long drag on her cigarette. "So, big Dance Dance Revolution party last night, was there?"

"There was! I was watchin' rather than playin', but it was fun. Even Kyle got in on it - an' covered up his claws so's he wouldn't kill the machine an' not be able to play again, too."

"Bugger, I'm sorry I missed it - used t' be all right at that." She grinned at him. "It was a good way t' keep warm in winter, an' I could always find someone t' pay for it. An' Kyle too? How'd he do? He's got that whole agility thing goin' for him, hasn't he?"

"He's pretty good", Angelo answered with a grin, seeing where this was going. "I think the main reason he's bein' all snarky about the semi-formal is 'cause he doesn't want to dress up an' wear shoes, more than he doesn't like dancin'."

Amanda chuckled. "Yeah, I saw that, an' then Manuel was tellin' me he was at this thing last night, so it didn't make sense. Think I'll be a smart arse an' point it out to him." She blew out smoke luxuriously. "Bartlet's got the right idea, tho'. This place could use a good party, even if it is semi-formal." She wrinkled her nose a little. "Still, Dom took me shoppin' again, so there's bound t' be somethin' in there." Picking up a short braid, she waved it at him. "An' you haven't said a thing 'bout my new 'do. I'm most insulted."

He gave her an apologetic look, spoiled somewhat by the amusement in his eyes. "Sorry. It looks good - d'you get it done when Dom took you out?"

She nodded, poking her tongue out at him briefly. "Hair, clothes, got some of the scars taken off, new tat that Manuel chose..." She pulled up her sweater and shirt briefly to show him the runes on her solar plexus. "I'm not the same person I was any more, so it made sense t' look different. An' I like it."

He nodded back. "Kind of symbolic. What's the tattoo?"

"Said in me journal - Norse runes for Blind Force, Endurance an' the Ritual of Committment..." She traced each one as she spoke, before pulling her layers back down with a shiver - it was freezing out. "Sort of a bargain with Manuel. He let me put a sort of mystical wardin' on him t' protect him from people like Selene," and she spat the name out here. "An' in return, he got t' pick the new tat."

"Oh yeah, I remember. So that makes two of us Asgard survivors with rune tattoos... does he remember anythin' about Asgard, or was it just coincidence?"

"He remembers most of it, I think - a lot of stuff came back after the ritual, back I'm not sure how much. Have t' go over all that again, I suppose." She didn't seem to mind - the smile on her face could only be described as 'goofy'. "But he's free now, Ange. An' doin' so much better. It's like... it's like all those bits of him I always loved have come out t' the front, an' the bad stuff's in the back, 'stead of the other way 'round like it was. An' it makes me happy." The goofy grin grew positively sentimental. "He makes me happy."

Angelo couldn't help smiling back as he looked at her, seeing how honestly happy she was. "That's good to hear."

"Isn't it just?" she replied, still grinning broadly.