2013.05.17 - The Joke That Stuck

It's a beautiful Spring day, for once, in New York City. Took it long enough to finally get around to it, that's for sure. But, Amanda has ceased to complain. It's here now. Take it while it's available. In far too short order, the stinking summer (and that's a literal not figurative description) will be in full swing and people will long once more for the cool freshness of the greening months. 
New York is Amanda's city in so many ways. Despite her European birth and nomadic, country gypsy upbringing, it's the urban environments that call to her soul. And, here in North America, New York is the city that makes the blonde gypsy happiest. So, out for a stroll, intending on meeting her friend at a little artsy coffee shop in Greenwich, the woman has an easy smile on her face and a lightness in her step. 
Hey, it's been a while since she could say that. Kurt's no longer in danger and, so far, there has been no adverse payback for the manner in which she and Domino freed him from his mother's threat. More than that, the X-Men haven't been going crazy with missions and she's been able to, for today, anyway, set aside that weirdness with the top-hatted Mistress of Magic. (That's right, Manda... push that right out of your mind. Today is about catching up with Illy, now that the worst of the school crunch is over for the girl.) 
As she reaches the cafe, she finds herself a table in the sunshine out on the patio to await her friend's arrival.
While Amanda's got some down-time, Illyana's dealing with the prospect of a small army of Spartan-class war machines that could turn to raining down pepto-bismol colored death at any moment and so she's not so relaxed, despite the wonderful weather. While the blonde sorceress can tend towards some extremes in her attire, today she's dressed like any college student might be. Sans the backpack. She's got on a MetroU T-shirt and jeans, sneakers and her Xavier's hoodie. Amanda isn't hard to pick out of the light crowd, and Illyana heads over to join her at the table.
Illyana isn't prone to smiles, and today she looks a bit more tired than usual. Most people don't realize how much sleep Illyana skips. The permanent sleep-dep is likely one of the reasons she's usually so surly. "I hope you already ordered coffee." Illyana says by way of hello before giving the other woman a smirk. "How's it going?"
Amanda chuckles at Illyana's greeting. Gracious as always. "Of course," she says. "Double caffeine for you, double sugar for me." She's actually teasing. She doesn't actually take more than one sugar in her own coffee. "I'm good. I'm good. For today, anyway." Her blue eyes sparkle with good humour, though it's no joke. Today is good. Take it one moment at a time. "How about you? Finished exams, yet?"
Illyana scrubs at her eyes with the hell of one hand and nods. "Yeah, all done. I dunno if I'm gonna do this again in the Fall." Coffee arrives and she lets out a sigh, wrapping both hands around it and inhaling for a moment before she drinks. "I just don't really see the point. And I have to bite my tongue to not say something to all the idiots in my classes." She doesn't have any of the worry or stress that a lot of students equate with finals. Perhaps because she clearly doesn't give it the weight that others do.
That and, lacking a certain empathy thanks to that chunk of missing soul, she probably just doesn't care. "What is it you're studying, again?" Amanda queries. She really should know this but, with one thing and another lately, some details have slipped through the cracks. "I wouldn't give up on it just yet. It's surprising what can come in handy down the road." Though she highly doubts Illyana will ever truly have the same concerns for her future as most people her age. Gods know Amanda doesn't. (Somehow, she just doesn't see a pension or retirement to a Happy Mutant Old Age Home after 50-odd years of work as very likely.)
"Just the general ed requirements." Illyana says, sipping at her coffee. The 'it might come in handy some day!' bit has the Russian levelling a withering sort of look over at Amanda. At least the Gypsy knows that Illyana just tends to be that surly. She's a bit better when Piotr's around, but she tends towards frowns more than smiles. Even the latter tend to be more mocking than happy. "Yeah, because what year Napoleon lost at Waterloo is going to be *so* useful outside of Jeopardy. At least most of it is just remembering stuff." Illyana gets by as a rather outstanding student because she's got a natural gift for remembering. It's how she memorized all of Belasco's spellbooks. When she could sneak time with them. "I know Piotr wanted me to do it to have some... I dunno, connection to a normal life but..." She grimaces.
Amanda takes a sip of her own coffee and chuckles softly. "But your life's not normal. I know. I get it. But, humour him. He's your brother, he loves you, and he's not wrong. Besides... with magic, you never know when trivial history facts could come in handy." Not that she's suffered a lot of time-travel or anything herself. But, she did chase this one demon clear across Europe and back. thing. "Knowing that Reinhard Heydrich died on May 27, 1942 in Prague actually saved me from a demonic lynching in the Czech Republic last summer. So, you just never know." 
Illyana wrinkles her nose in annoyance. "I suppose. It's not like it's hard." Not the type of classes she's taking, anyhow. And she isn't likely to get into a science-heavy degree whatever she settles on. "Which is good. I've been busy with other things." Her costumed alter ego shows up on news feeds less and less but that's mostly because she does quieter things that she hasn't advertised even to the Xavier crowd. "Speaking of, what have you been up to lately?"
Amanda blows out a soft breath at the question. "Trying to keep Kurt from getting killed, trying to convince a bunch of over-eager students at Xavier's that they absolutely must learn the basics before they take on the big guns, and trying to figure out why the magic in this city is skewed." She glances at the Russian. "Have you noticed it?" she asks, now. "A haunted house owned by Alice of Alice-in-Wonderland fame popped up in a cemetery over in Brooklyn, some idiot sorcerer accidentally set imps loose on LaGuardia when customs officials opened his suitcase to find a whole mystical library, and now those same imps keep popping up at various old bookstores and community libraries in the city trying to retrieve what they lost. It's playing havoc with the aether."
And that doesn't even begin to touch on the artefact mystery she stumbled on with Zatanna...
Illyana chuckles at the news about Kurt. "It would be easier if he'd stop throwing himself into danger." She points out and rolls her eyes about the kids. "Yeaaah. I'm supposed to help Doug with some of those that might want to do the hero route but I've had some stuff on my plate. And I'm really more shock-tactic than teacher." The news about the magic gets a frown and a shake of her head. "I'm not really as attuned to the magic here." In fact, her own is rather stunted on Earth. "If something flares up around me I'd probably notice but not just a shift."
Whereas Amanda's attunement to NYC is fine-grained. "It's been driving me pretty crazy," she admits. Of course, crazy is a relative term. She's quite likely one of the sanest magic users ever to walk the Earth. Thus far, anyway. It's amazing the crap that just rolls off her, rather than sticking around to mess her up. She has to chuckle about Kurt, however. "You know him. He'll never stop throwing himself into danger." She frowns slightly, "Though, it'd help if he'd cut ties with Mystique. I get it, wanting to know her, even to possibly redeem her. I do." She has something of that same dynamic with her own mother. "But the woman put a hit out on him, for crying out loud." She chuckles ruefully. "His capacity for forgiveness far exceeds my own." And his mother's, for that matter.
"Well, that's one of the reasons that we love him, isn't it?" Illyana says, somewhat dryly. "If he weren't throwing himself into danger and forgiving people for terrible things he wouldn't be Kurt." She pauses to take another drink of her coffee, letting the moment grow. "Of course... that Kurt might be pretty awesome to know too." She adds in that dry manner, smirking over to Amanda. "Well if you need me, hit me up. My phone is even working all the time now." Given Illyana's disdain of most technology, and that it doesn't like Limbo, and the constant in-and-out and forgetting to recharge it and all... Yeah. "Of course now I can't use that excuse to duck Piotr."
Amanda can't argue the comments about Kurt, so she just chuckles and raises her coffee lightly in acquiescence. "When you're right, you're right," she concedes. And then she chuckles. "I don't know that I would want to meet a vindictive Kurt. He's a demon. If he lost his humanity, I think it would go badly for everyone." The day he starts teleporting people's limbs and heads off is the day she puts him down... or dies trying. Consquences be damned. 
"How is Piotr, anyway?" she asks now. "I haven't seen him around, lately." Not that she's been all that accessible, either. Yeah, she teaches in Westchester, but she still goes home to NYC at night. Even if it happens to be through a portal she opens in the guest room they've given her. 
Illyana just gives a tight smile that doesn't touch her cold, hard eyes. She and Kurt have far too much in common. "Piotr's alright. Had some thing with the Russian Mafia come up. Your past will haunt you, y'know? But it all turned out OK. At least things are pretty quiet now."
Amanda nods ruefully. Most of them have had to deal with skeletons in their closets coming to life again -- sometimes quite literally. She sips her coffee briefly, before saying. "Quiet's good. Most of the time." Until it gets too quiet. Then, you know all Hell's about to break loose. Again, sometimes quite literally. "Hey. What do you know about alchemy?" She, herself, is a fair hand at potions, but alchemy tends to take things a step or three beyond what she can whip up in her kitchen cauldron, so to speak.
Illyana tilts her head sort of side-to-side in an 'eh' manner. "Not something I got into too much. I tend towards straight-up sorcery instead of messing with potions and whatnot. Limbo also didn't have the best selection of ingredients." It all being conjured or demonic-tainted. Or both. "I can muddle through most recipes but it's not my thing, really." No, if you want to know about demons? Illyana's the one to see.
Amanda kinda figured that was the case, but it never hurts to ask. She nods lightly. "Just wondered. Bumped into a Voldemort-wannabe a few days ago that's distilling unicorn blood into something nasty. I'm not quite sure what or how. Hell, I'm not even sure how or where he found the blood. And, I'm not sure I want to know." She shrugs, now, and swallows another mouthful. "But, if it's out there, it needs to be stopped." A beat. A wry smile. "I'm not point on it, though. Zatanna Zatara is. Ever heard of her?"
It's one of those really, really nice Spring days. The kind you wait and hope for all season. Today finds Illyana and Amanda at the outdoor portion of a cafe near Metropolis University. Illyana's dressed all casual like, not even those heavy, aggressive boots she tends to like. She's got a coffee that she's almost finished with and indeed, as a server comes by she puts in for another, along with a chocolate croissant. "I'd guess one of the Near Realms. Not like you'd find a lot of those on Earth." The mention of Zatanna gets a nod. "Yeah, I've been to her place, met a few times. Just a professional thing. She knows me as Magik, not Illyana."
Amanda nods to that. "I've met her as Daytripper," she admits. "Not Amanda." Because you don't just go giving out personal names to just anybody. Particularly not anybody with magic. "In any case, it's her show, so I'm letting he do the legwork on it." She's got enough on her plate otherwise. 
As that server comes by, Amanda orders just a cup of water, now, rather than another coffee, and a light bagel. 
Illyana can't help but give a snort of amusement as Amanda brings up her other name. "I'll never get over that. Serves you right, the joke that stuck." Daytripper. Really. "She seems competent enough." But magic users aren't the most trusting sorts with each other. Unless they're part of a coven. And none of these three ladies are.
Amanda has to chuckle. "Well, it's better than announcing Amanda Sefton to every demon or villain I meet." But, yeah. It's a stupid name. She won't argue that. Perhaps, one day, she'll find a better one. She lets the talk of Zatanna drop, however. Because, yeah. The trust, there, is still slowly being built. Slow being the operative word. "You find me a better name and maybe I'll consider using it. Maybe."
Illyana grins Amanda a slow grin, not a smirk, that shows a lot of teeth. "Challenge accepted." She says, giving the other blonde a wink. And you can bet Illyana won't be suggesting 'Magik II'. "You never wanna give a demon your real name anyhow." Illyana's cool glance as she sets her now-empty cup aside holds some Knowing. Like she doesn't think Amanda Sefton is her birth name. More from the magical path she's on than out of any suspicion.
And, if asked outright, Amanda would admit her current name isn't her true name. But, she won't be revealing Jemaine Szardos to anyone any time soon. Kurt knows it. Margali knows it. That's quite enough. More than enough, really. "Just nothing like Rowan MoonTree or something silly like that," she says firmly, meeting Illyana's sharp grin with one of her own. She's never really understood the practice some magic users (though, more often, wannabe magic users) have of selecting 'magical names' that sound like some sort of Celticized Native American naming tradition. But, then, she's not Celtic. Romani through-and-through, no matter what colour she dyes her hair and skin.
The server returns with the order and she thanks him politely, pulling the lemon off the edge of the glass of water and setting it aside. 
Illyana wrinkles her nose, one of those habits she has from when she was young and makes those that knew her then still see that little girl in the woman she is now. It makes her look... cute. But the eyes always ruin that illusion. "Nothing so silly as that. Pathdancer or something like that. But less silly sounding." She tears off a bit of of her croissant and chews on it, looking thoughtful.
Pathdancer isn't Amanda's first choice, either, but she gets the gist of what the other girl means and nods. She chuckles softly and nods lightly. If her eyes linger on Illyana's face for a moment, as the echo of the 6 year old Amanda never met appears, it's short-lived. Shame about those eyes, really. About Belasco in general, really. Not one of Amanda's favourite people, though her mother seems to like him well enough. But, then, she doesn't entirely understand her mother's choices. "Pathdancer. Yeah, that reminds me. I need to refill my bag of tricks. I've been going through chips like water." Concrete chips. Little pieces of the city Amanda uses to strengthen her magic when the Road is waning or afix her power to when she needs to give a talisman away. Her lips purse slightly. "I know you haven't been around the mansion much, lately. If you do get back there, track down a new kid named Creature -- Alice Tevy. She's a metamorph. I'm not sure what her changeling form is, however. You're better with the demonic forms than me. See if you can sense a trace on her. I couldn't, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Amanda knows her limits and the differences between her magic and Illy's. "I've tagged her with a talisman to let me know if she changes unexpectedly. She has a tendency to go all slavering killer when she does."
"I'd make fun of you and your little trinkets but..." Illyana shrugs. Her own magical abilities 'wane' on Earth and there's not much she can do about that. Good thing she's not a one-trick pony. "I'll keep an eye out. I know that Kurt doesn't really trip a lot of magical senses either. Magic can be sneaky sometimes." She does frown at the news about the whole 'slavering killer' bit. "Sounds like the staff needs to keep a close eye on her, huh?"
Amanda nods. "Yeah. I'm trying to handle it without pulling the Professor or Jean into it, but..." she lets her voice trail off in a shrug. The telepaths could very likely inhibit the girl's ability enough to keep her from transforming against her will. But, it wouldn't be easy. And, on some level, it would bother Amanda to have them snooping through her mind, so she's not keen to loose that on anyone else. "I may have to before all's said and done." 
"Yeah, putting blocks into someone's brain just to make things easier never sounds like a good idea." Illyana's mind is safe from prying, but in a way that makes her even more touchy about the idea. "Better to let her figure it out, if at all possible." But sometimes it's not.
Amanda nods her agreement once more. "I'm hoping it's possible. The kid puts up a brave front, but I think she's terrified." And she can't blame her. "I saw her changeling form. It's... Well, the only places I've seen creatures like that aren't on the regular tour of reality." Hence the reason she hopes Illyana might see something. The woman looks around briefly and the whispers a soft spell, enclosing the pair of them in a 'nothing-to-see-here-move-along' cone that will keep all but the most determined of onlookers from prying. Then, she conjures up a small illusion of the creature in question for the other sorceress to see. "See what I mean?"
Illyana leans forward a bit to get a better look at the small illusion and her lips press down into a thoughtful frown. "I'll see what I can do. I'm dealing with.. something of a situation that's running me kinds of ragged. I hate it when you're out of leads, you know?" And given the vagueness, it's unlikely she's going to get into details.
"Heh." The laugh Amanda barks out is telling. "Yeah. Know how that goes." On both counts -- the lack of leads and the unspoken reluctance to say anything. "If there's anyway I can lend a hand..." She makes the offer, knowing full well it won't likely be picked up. 
Pushing her empty water glass and bagel plate away now, however, she leans back in her chair. "I suppose," she says ruefully, "I should get back to it, myself. I promised Kurt I'd meet him for dinner." She smiles again, blue eyes dancing. "Which means I've got to get ready. With our luck, we'll end up in the middle of the harbour before the night's out." Pushing her chair back, she rises. "Good seeing you again, Illyana. Let me know when you're free, and we'll do it again sometime."
"When I need to call the cavalry, I do." Illyana assures Amanda. In their line of work, secrets get kept. It's not personal. She chuckles at the mention of dinner. "Best make sure to take a sword with you. Just in case. I never leave home without mine." Her icy blue eyes glint with amusement. She gives Amanda a nod. "Catch you around, Amanda."
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