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xp_logsMeeting the other empath - Meggan and Amanda run into Dani in the kitchen, and things go far better this time, thanks to Dani's secret weapon - the baby.
For once, Dani was not in the kitchen cooking. She was however, working on preparing the final assignment for the little kids cooking class, Nate had them making homemade icecream. It promised to be very fun for everyone, which is how the class was supposed to be.
The kitchen was becoming a regular place to visit. Between the Bottomless Pit of Brighton and the junior edition, there were regular stops for snacks, usually of the healthy variety. However, when Amanda came in, Meggan chattering in Romany at her side, to see Dani already there, she hesitated briefly. The last encounter she and Meggan had had with an empath in the kitchen had not been a good one.
Meggan saw the new person and automatically slid her paw into Manda's hand, which closed around it gently. "Hi," she said, a little warily. The new Person felt... unbalanced, unsettled, somehow. Not bad, just... strange. Then her eyes widened, and she reached out with her free hand to touch the big bulge of the Person's stomach. There was a little live thing in there! How in the world had it gotten in there?
"Hey," Dani said, pushing some of the papers into little piles to make room for Amanda and the kid she'd found. Meggan? That sounded right and more importantly, it felt right. The inhibitor was off for the moment in an attempt to find some shields, "How're you?" When they touched, she felt fear, trust in Amanda, and curiosity. Staying focused, she tried to project friendly-good feeling vibes.
Amanda automatically translated the question into Romany, as was becoming second nature, and relaxed a little. Dani wasn't Manuel, and there certainly wasn't the emotional turmoil there. "Dani, this is Meggan. Um, just be careful if you're projectin' at her, yeah? We had a bit of a... scene with Manuel an' she's a bit twtichy 'bout people pushin' feelin's at her. She can read you just fine, tho'."
Meggan patted the Person's stomach gently, and felt the small creature inside her move a little. If she concentrated, she could sense a little coming from it... it seemed happy, where it was, warm and safe. "~What, Manda?~" she asked, pointing to the bulge. "~In! What in?~"
Okay, the Facts of Life Talk was coming up awfully fast... "~Um, it's a baby, a little person, growing inside her,~" Amanda explained. Looking up at Dani with an uncharacteristic blush on her face, she added. "She's askin' 'bout the baby - I don't think she's ever seen anyone pregnant before."
"Well, between me and Dr. MacTaggert, she's going to see a lot in the next few months," turning back to Meggan, she pantomimed rocking a baby to sleep before carefully moving her hand to a different part of her stomach where the baby was kicking, "It's a baby. See? You can feel it kick."
Meggan rested her paw on the spot indicated, and squeaked when she felt the little kick against her hand. "Bahby," she said, attempting the new word. She'd seen little ones, before, but never up close... they weren't allowed near her cage. "Hi, bahby." She waited until it kicked again, and
patted back.
Okay, tough street punks did not get all misty eyed at the drop of a hat - Amanda coughed a little to clear the sudden tightening of her throat and blinked rapidly since her eyes were joining in on the fun. "Well, um, yeah. Ah, is there any food around? We're still on tryin' t' build her up an' that means much with the healthy snacks," she asked Dani.
Shaking her head a little as Dani pulled away from Meggan's emotions she refocused on the other teen, "Of course we have food. Let's see," awkwardly, Dani headed to the pantry taking a mental inventory of the contents, "How about oatmeal cookies made with applesauce? Very healthy."
"Cookies!" Meggan had learned THAT word fast. Cookies were great. "~Manda, eat cookies?~" She hugged Manda, who was feeling all warm and squishy inside right now. It was a nice feeling.
"Yes, you can have cookies," Amanda replied, in English this time as she returned the hug. Meggan had picked up at least three of those words, she knew. "Apple juice too?"
"Jooce!" Meggan agreed. She LIKED juice. It was sweet and a pretty colour and it tasted a LOT better than the white stuff that she'd been given a couple times.
"Coming right up," Dani said, pulling the tupperware of cookies out along with glasses and a jug of apple juice. "Do you want anything else, Meggan?" she asked, knowing that Meggan wouldn't understand, but treating her as if she did.
"Cookies an' juice're fine by me," Amanda replied, sitting Meggan on one of the stools around the kitchen counter. "~Did you want anything else, love?~" she added to Meggan. Dani had quite the armful, so she relieved the other girl of the glasses, setting them down on the counter. The fact there had been no biting yet was reassuring. "An' pardon me for bein' rude, but you're as big as a house now. When're you due?"
Dani let the other girl take the glasses, something she would not have done even a month or two earlier, "I feel like a beached whale," she complained. She tried not to bother anyone about it too much, but it felt good that someone asked. "Got another two months too...but my back hurts, my feet hurt, which is the only reason I know they're still there, I pee every five minutes, I can't get comfortable..." trailing off, Dani took a bite of a cookie. "I'm told it's all normal though."
"Cookies. Jooce. Good." Meggan reached over to touch Dani's stomach again, now that it was in reach, and beamed as she felt another little kick. "~Happy. Warm.~" she told Manda, pointing to the bulge.
"Think I was lucky t' get the instant version," Amanda said with a sympathetic grin. "She's sayin' the baby's happy an' warm, by the way. Looks like she's definitely an empath as well as the shapeshiftin'." To Meggan she added. "~The baby's in a safe place, that's why.~"
Danielle nodded, "Of course she's an empath, she feels like one. Broadcasts too, but not so much to be annoying," not like some of the residents here who didn't even know they were doing it, "She's really cute."
"Baby," Meggan repeated, fixing the word in her memory. "Good." She took a cookie and took a small bite, wanting to make the cookie last. They tasted much too good to eat quickly.
"I'm headblind, remember?" Amanda said mildly. "Don't have the whole advantage you empaths have." She was shielding, having learned that with Manuel a long time ago, so she was reasonably sure Dani wouldn't pick up on the momentary flash of jealousy. Manuel had always bemoaned the singularity of his powers, and here were two other empaths. Still not another actual mutant witch to be seen, though. lllyana didn't count - demons, even half-demons, never did. "An' she is, isn't she? She's come a long way since I found her, an' it's only been a couple of weeks."
"Weeks?" Dani looked Meggan over again who was carefully drinking her apple juice. Small, furry...and she'd leave the medical whatevers to the doctors 4, but she seemed to be a normal, if skinny, girl. And a mutant. "Yeah, I guess so, huh?" Curiosity still radiated from Meggan even though her hunger was now sated. "Meggan?" Dani said softly, not wanting to spook the girl. When Meggan turned, Dani lifted her shirt up, letting her see her belly without the shirt on this time.
Meggan beamed, reaching out to touch gently with warm, leathery fingers. Setting the juice down, she slid off the stool to get closer, patting and leaning in to gently sniff Dani's skin. She couldn't smell the baby through the skin, but Dani's smell was interesting. Then she giggled, and poked Dani's bellybutton very gently. It was sticking out, hee... "Good," she said decidedly.
She didn't need to tell Meggan to be careful - she'd already thought of that for herself. "Found her two weeks ago in a cage, scared of her own shadow an' malnourished besides. Fuckers who had her were tryin' t' sell her as a demon." Amanda snorted derisively. "Wouldn't know a real demon if it jumped up an' bit 'em." She chuckled at Meggan's approval. "Looks like you're got yerself a little fan."
"I hope they can't hurt anyone else," Dani said with an
uncharacteristic burst of anger, how could they hurt this child?! OR any child for that matter? It didn't matter if they were a mutant or not, there were just some things you just did not do to anyone for any reason. Reaching out, she stroked Meggan's head lightly, hoping the child would realize that she's not angry with her. "Meggan good," she told her.
"Not at the time, not without puttin' Kurt's...our family at risk. But Kurt says somethin's bein' done with the law - Bartlet and Cassidy are lookin' into what can be done," Amanda replied. She wasn't entirely happy with that particular route, but she saw the sense in it. Especially when force of any kind would only bounce back on the Szardos clan - either from the Grgics themselves, or their supporters.
Meggan cooed, butting her head up against Dani's hand. Petting was NICE. Manda patted her hair and played with it a lot, and it made her feel all warm and happy. Solemnly, she reached for one of her cookies and offered it to Dani. Dani presumably had cookies too, but it was nice to be able to share food, when there was some. "Cookie."
"Thank you," Dani took a piece of the cookie solemnly and ate it, smiling at the girl and scratching the back of her neck lightly. "Why Meggan? I mean, is that her name for herself or your name for her? Sorry...I'm still wading through the baby books."
"It's... complicated," Amanda said, trying to figure out a way of explaining it. "I had this dream, an'knew her name was Meggan. Part of the magic thing, I s'pose. Names're important, in magic."
"Names are always important," Dani agreed, understanding. "There is the name everyone calls you, the name you call yourself and your spirit name. I've never heard of them all being the same, but they all have weight on who you are."
"In magic - the magic I know, any way - names have power. If you know the true name of a person, t gives you power over 'em. Makes it important who you tell that name too - you've got t' trust 'em beyond anything." Shifting slightly, since that thought brought back Halloween, and that brought back thoughts of Manuel - it kept coming back to Manuel, everything - Amanda looked at Meggan nibbling at her cookie witha sad smile. "She called herself 'Monster' when I found her. I think Meggan's a lot better."
Meggan heard her name and smiled, leaning against Amanda for a moment. "Name," she repeated, frowning a little. That meant the word for a person, she thought she remembered. Like 'Meggan' was her word, and 'Manda' or 'Amanda' were Manda's words, and 'Bella' was the blue bird's special word. Right. That all made sense. "Name?" she asked, pointing at the Person with the baby.
"My name is Dani," this was beyond cute, even for Dani. Maternal even, which she had been trying hard not to be, "I'm Dani."
"Dan-ee," Meggan repeated, and beamed at her. Learning new words was fun, especially words for people. It made it a LOT easier to talk about them. "Meggan," she added, pointing to herself. Manda had mentioned it, of course, but she thought she'd better say, just in case.
"It's good to meet you Meggan," Dani replied, taking the girls left paw in her hand and shaking it lightly. "If you ever want to come to my room and give Amanda a break, you let me know."
For once, Dani was not in the kitchen cooking. She was however, working on preparing the final assignment for the little kids cooking class, Nate had them making homemade icecream. It promised to be very fun for everyone, which is how the class was supposed to be.
The kitchen was becoming a regular place to visit. Between the Bottomless Pit of Brighton and the junior edition, there were regular stops for snacks, usually of the healthy variety. However, when Amanda came in, Meggan chattering in Romany at her side, to see Dani already there, she hesitated briefly. The last encounter she and Meggan had had with an empath in the kitchen had not been a good one.
Meggan saw the new person and automatically slid her paw into Manda's hand, which closed around it gently. "Hi," she said, a little warily. The new Person felt... unbalanced, unsettled, somehow. Not bad, just... strange. Then her eyes widened, and she reached out with her free hand to touch the big bulge of the Person's stomach. There was a little live thing in there! How in the world had it gotten in there?
"Hey," Dani said, pushing some of the papers into little piles to make room for Amanda and the kid she'd found. Meggan? That sounded right and more importantly, it felt right. The inhibitor was off for the moment in an attempt to find some shields, "How're you?" When they touched, she felt fear, trust in Amanda, and curiosity. Staying focused, she tried to project friendly-good feeling vibes.
Amanda automatically translated the question into Romany, as was becoming second nature, and relaxed a little. Dani wasn't Manuel, and there certainly wasn't the emotional turmoil there. "Dani, this is Meggan. Um, just be careful if you're projectin' at her, yeah? We had a bit of a... scene with Manuel an' she's a bit twtichy 'bout people pushin' feelin's at her. She can read you just fine, tho'."
Meggan patted the Person's stomach gently, and felt the small creature inside her move a little. If she concentrated, she could sense a little coming from it... it seemed happy, where it was, warm and safe. "~What, Manda?~" she asked, pointing to the bulge. "~In! What in?~"
Okay, the Facts of Life Talk was coming up awfully fast... "~Um, it's a baby, a little person, growing inside her,~" Amanda explained. Looking up at Dani with an uncharacteristic blush on her face, she added. "She's askin' 'bout the baby - I don't think she's ever seen anyone pregnant before."
"Well, between me and Dr. MacTaggert, she's going to see a lot in the next few months," turning back to Meggan, she pantomimed rocking a baby to sleep before carefully moving her hand to a different part of her stomach where the baby was kicking, "It's a baby. See? You can feel it kick."
Meggan rested her paw on the spot indicated, and squeaked when she felt the little kick against her hand. "Bahby," she said, attempting the new word. She'd seen little ones, before, but never up close... they weren't allowed near her cage. "Hi, bahby." She waited until it kicked again, and
patted back.
Okay, tough street punks did not get all misty eyed at the drop of a hat - Amanda coughed a little to clear the sudden tightening of her throat and blinked rapidly since her eyes were joining in on the fun. "Well, um, yeah. Ah, is there any food around? We're still on tryin' t' build her up an' that means much with the healthy snacks," she asked Dani.
Shaking her head a little as Dani pulled away from Meggan's emotions she refocused on the other teen, "Of course we have food. Let's see," awkwardly, Dani headed to the pantry taking a mental inventory of the contents, "How about oatmeal cookies made with applesauce? Very healthy."
"Cookies!" Meggan had learned THAT word fast. Cookies were great. "~Manda, eat cookies?~" She hugged Manda, who was feeling all warm and squishy inside right now. It was a nice feeling.
"Yes, you can have cookies," Amanda replied, in English this time as she returned the hug. Meggan had picked up at least three of those words, she knew. "Apple juice too?"
"Jooce!" Meggan agreed. She LIKED juice. It was sweet and a pretty colour and it tasted a LOT better than the white stuff that she'd been given a couple times.
"Coming right up," Dani said, pulling the tupperware of cookies out along with glasses and a jug of apple juice. "Do you want anything else, Meggan?" she asked, knowing that Meggan wouldn't understand, but treating her as if she did.
"Cookies an' juice're fine by me," Amanda replied, sitting Meggan on one of the stools around the kitchen counter. "~Did you want anything else, love?~" she added to Meggan. Dani had quite the armful, so she relieved the other girl of the glasses, setting them down on the counter. The fact there had been no biting yet was reassuring. "An' pardon me for bein' rude, but you're as big as a house now. When're you due?"
Dani let the other girl take the glasses, something she would not have done even a month or two earlier, "I feel like a beached whale," she complained. She tried not to bother anyone about it too much, but it felt good that someone asked. "Got another two months too...but my back hurts, my feet hurt, which is the only reason I know they're still there, I pee every five minutes, I can't get comfortable..." trailing off, Dani took a bite of a cookie. "I'm told it's all normal though."
"Cookies. Jooce. Good." Meggan reached over to touch Dani's stomach again, now that it was in reach, and beamed as she felt another little kick. "~Happy. Warm.~" she told Manda, pointing to the bulge.
"Think I was lucky t' get the instant version," Amanda said with a sympathetic grin. "She's sayin' the baby's happy an' warm, by the way. Looks like she's definitely an empath as well as the shapeshiftin'." To Meggan she added. "~The baby's in a safe place, that's why.~"
Danielle nodded, "Of course she's an empath, she feels like one. Broadcasts too, but not so much to be annoying," not like some of the residents here who didn't even know they were doing it, "She's really cute."
"Baby," Meggan repeated, fixing the word in her memory. "Good." She took a cookie and took a small bite, wanting to make the cookie last. They tasted much too good to eat quickly.
"I'm headblind, remember?" Amanda said mildly. "Don't have the whole advantage you empaths have." She was shielding, having learned that with Manuel a long time ago, so she was reasonably sure Dani wouldn't pick up on the momentary flash of jealousy. Manuel had always bemoaned the singularity of his powers, and here were two other empaths. Still not another actual mutant witch to be seen, though. lllyana didn't count - demons, even half-demons, never did. "An' she is, isn't she? She's come a long way since I found her, an' it's only been a couple of weeks."
"Weeks?" Dani looked Meggan over again who was carefully drinking her apple juice. Small, furry...and she'd leave the medical whatevers to the doctors 4, but she seemed to be a normal, if skinny, girl. And a mutant. "Yeah, I guess so, huh?" Curiosity still radiated from Meggan even though her hunger was now sated. "Meggan?" Dani said softly, not wanting to spook the girl. When Meggan turned, Dani lifted her shirt up, letting her see her belly without the shirt on this time.
Meggan beamed, reaching out to touch gently with warm, leathery fingers. Setting the juice down, she slid off the stool to get closer, patting and leaning in to gently sniff Dani's skin. She couldn't smell the baby through the skin, but Dani's smell was interesting. Then she giggled, and poked Dani's bellybutton very gently. It was sticking out, hee... "Good," she said decidedly.
She didn't need to tell Meggan to be careful - she'd already thought of that for herself. "Found her two weeks ago in a cage, scared of her own shadow an' malnourished besides. Fuckers who had her were tryin' t' sell her as a demon." Amanda snorted derisively. "Wouldn't know a real demon if it jumped up an' bit 'em." She chuckled at Meggan's approval. "Looks like you're got yerself a little fan."
"I hope they can't hurt anyone else," Dani said with an
uncharacteristic burst of anger, how could they hurt this child?! OR any child for that matter? It didn't matter if they were a mutant or not, there were just some things you just did not do to anyone for any reason. Reaching out, she stroked Meggan's head lightly, hoping the child would realize that she's not angry with her. "Meggan good," she told her.
"Not at the time, not without puttin' Kurt's...our family at risk. But Kurt says somethin's bein' done with the law - Bartlet and Cassidy are lookin' into what can be done," Amanda replied. She wasn't entirely happy with that particular route, but she saw the sense in it. Especially when force of any kind would only bounce back on the Szardos clan - either from the Grgics themselves, or their supporters.
Meggan cooed, butting her head up against Dani's hand. Petting was NICE. Manda patted her hair and played with it a lot, and it made her feel all warm and happy. Solemnly, she reached for one of her cookies and offered it to Dani. Dani presumably had cookies too, but it was nice to be able to share food, when there was some. "Cookie."
"Thank you," Dani took a piece of the cookie solemnly and ate it, smiling at the girl and scratching the back of her neck lightly. "Why Meggan? I mean, is that her name for herself or your name for her? Sorry...I'm still wading through the baby books."
"It's... complicated," Amanda said, trying to figure out a way of explaining it. "I had this dream, an'knew her name was Meggan. Part of the magic thing, I s'pose. Names're important, in magic."
"Names are always important," Dani agreed, understanding. "There is the name everyone calls you, the name you call yourself and your spirit name. I've never heard of them all being the same, but they all have weight on who you are."
"In magic - the magic I know, any way - names have power. If you know the true name of a person, t gives you power over 'em. Makes it important who you tell that name too - you've got t' trust 'em beyond anything." Shifting slightly, since that thought brought back Halloween, and that brought back thoughts of Manuel - it kept coming back to Manuel, everything - Amanda looked at Meggan nibbling at her cookie witha sad smile. "She called herself 'Monster' when I found her. I think Meggan's a lot better."
Meggan heard her name and smiled, leaning against Amanda for a moment. "Name," she repeated, frowning a little. That meant the word for a person, she thought she remembered. Like 'Meggan' was her word, and 'Manda' or 'Amanda' were Manda's words, and 'Bella' was the blue bird's special word. Right. That all made sense. "Name?" she asked, pointing at the Person with the baby.
"My name is Dani," this was beyond cute, even for Dani. Maternal even, which she had been trying hard not to be, "I'm Dani."
"Dan-ee," Meggan repeated, and beamed at her. Learning new words was fun, especially words for people. It made it a LOT easier to talk about them. "Meggan," she added, pointing to herself. Manda had mentioned it, of course, but she thought she'd better say, just in case.
"It's good to meet you Meggan," Dani replied, taking the girls left paw in her hand and shaking it lightly. "If you ever want to come to my room and give Amanda a break, you let me know."
