Amanda and 'John' - backdated to April 4
Apr. 4th, 2011 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsOn a visit to the mansion, Amanda runs into 'John' and gives him another perspective on dealing with his amnesia.
John found himself in a now familiar position in the mansion. Walking around, completely lost with food hanging out of his mouth. Although he'd been at the mansion for a few weeks now, it still was huge, and he found himself wondering if he'd ever be able to find his way around. The homeless shelter had after all only been a few cots laid out along a concrete floor, and it was hard for someone to lose their way back while going to grab a licorice snack. But here, he found himself staring at another seemingly dead end hallway, and scratching the back of his head in confusion, hoping for a miracle, or at least someone to give him directions.
He apparently got his wish, in the form of a cheerful, off-tune whistle coming past, soon followed by a young blonde woman in a battered leather jacket and jeans. Amanda was on her way to see Nico for another training/feeding session, and she was decidedly up given she'd popped over to London for a hefty recharge before coming here. London always gave her plenty of energy, perhaps as an apology for the insanity a few years back. She stopped as she caught sight of the young man looking rather lost.
"Hey there. John, isn't it?" she called, remembering what Kurt had said about Nick's amnesia and his current identity preference. "Are you lost?"
The boy whipped his head around at the response to the voice. "Yes, and totally." He smirked slightly at the woman. It was still odd for him to get used to people that he had never seen knowing who he was. "And you must be..." He raised an eyebrow "...either a friend of Nick's or one of the tour guides to this fun house." He really was thinking the mansion needed to begin to employ the latter.
"Neither, actually," she replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm Amanda, Kurt's sister. You look like you could do with a guide, tho', so I'm happy to take up the job."
Looks like Nick had more family than he realized, was the first thing through his head. "Any help would be great. I'm always afraid I'll stumble into some secret hiding place and never get out when I can't find my room." He shook his head with a laugh.
"It's a bit like that," Amanda agreed with a chuckle of her own. "I remember when I came here as a student, I got lost all the time. Where were you headed?"
"I was trying to find my room slash Nick's old room." He turned around, happy that he wouldn't spend the rest of the day wandering aimlessly. "You were a student here? I couldn't even imagine what that would be like." Although if he listened to the rumors he actually was a student at the school only months and a few memories ago.
"So, the student floor. I know where that is." Amanda indicated with an incline of her head the direction they should take and waited for "John" to fall into step beside her. "And yeah, I was, about a hundred years ago, or so it seems sometimes. It was a hell of a ride, that's for sure. There were more students than there are now and it always seemed like someone was in some kind trouble or other. Evil relatives, demon invasions, kidnappings, military incursions, wiped memories..." Her tone was casual, but the last comment was deliberate - an opening for the young man to take if he wanted.
"Yeah, I've heard about a few of the wiped memories from a few people. They seem to range from people taking on new identities to people running around thinking they're in love with random people." He laughed. "And I thought the random drug addicts were bad at the shelter." He continued to walk in line with her as his memories wandered to the stories of others with broken memories at the mansion he had heard from Dr. Grey-Summers and a few of the others.
"That bloody love potion. I'll never live that one down." Amanda shook her head and snorted. "The follies of youth and all that. But yeah, we've seen the whole range here. Some more up close than others - my boyfriend at the time had his memories wiped. Took months for it to come back." She glanced up at him. "But it did, in the end."
"Well even if mine, or Nick's don't, I can always look forward to these hallway meetings right?" He cracked a smile. His life had been a roller coaster over the past month and a half. If he was going to keep his sanity at all, he needed to inject levity into situations like these. That was all he could do to stave off screaming in frustration at times. "But how did you deal with it? Knowing someone so close, and them not having a clue who you were?"
Amanda was quiet for a while, thinking over those times. "It was hard," she replied quietly. "Seeing his face and not having him remember me. But I realised after a while, it was harder for him, having everyone react to someone he wasn't. So, we started fresh, blank slate and all that. Getting to know the person he was, not try and force him to be the person he'd been."
"Speaking from my own personal experience, I can tell you that that plan seems nice." He smirked as he continued down the hall. "But I still can't help but feel like I'm a guy walking through the halls with a Nick mask on, ya know?"
"To be honest, it's probably because no-one has any clue who John is. They see you, they see Nick, like you said. But there's a way of talking to them that gets around that whole issue - the journals. Chime in a bit more, say your piece, let people know who you are. They'll react to you, not to who they think you should be."
"I can try that." John smirked as he turned towards his hallway companion. "But when I start getting comments that people are tired of reading my late night rants about Rock of Love on the journals, I'm totally ratting you out to them all." He let a faint laugh out through his pursed lips.
She laughed out loud at that. "This place has survived Garrison's tendency to play Air Supply when he's drunk and lovelorn," she replied. "I think they'll cope."
John found himself in a now familiar position in the mansion. Walking around, completely lost with food hanging out of his mouth. Although he'd been at the mansion for a few weeks now, it still was huge, and he found himself wondering if he'd ever be able to find his way around. The homeless shelter had after all only been a few cots laid out along a concrete floor, and it was hard for someone to lose their way back while going to grab a licorice snack. But here, he found himself staring at another seemingly dead end hallway, and scratching the back of his head in confusion, hoping for a miracle, or at least someone to give him directions.
He apparently got his wish, in the form of a cheerful, off-tune whistle coming past, soon followed by a young blonde woman in a battered leather jacket and jeans. Amanda was on her way to see Nico for another training/feeding session, and she was decidedly up given she'd popped over to London for a hefty recharge before coming here. London always gave her plenty of energy, perhaps as an apology for the insanity a few years back. She stopped as she caught sight of the young man looking rather lost.
"Hey there. John, isn't it?" she called, remembering what Kurt had said about Nick's amnesia and his current identity preference. "Are you lost?"
The boy whipped his head around at the response to the voice. "Yes, and totally." He smirked slightly at the woman. It was still odd for him to get used to people that he had never seen knowing who he was. "And you must be..." He raised an eyebrow "...either a friend of Nick's or one of the tour guides to this fun house." He really was thinking the mansion needed to begin to employ the latter.
"Neither, actually," she replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm Amanda, Kurt's sister. You look like you could do with a guide, tho', so I'm happy to take up the job."
Looks like Nick had more family than he realized, was the first thing through his head. "Any help would be great. I'm always afraid I'll stumble into some secret hiding place and never get out when I can't find my room." He shook his head with a laugh.
"It's a bit like that," Amanda agreed with a chuckle of her own. "I remember when I came here as a student, I got lost all the time. Where were you headed?"
"I was trying to find my room slash Nick's old room." He turned around, happy that he wouldn't spend the rest of the day wandering aimlessly. "You were a student here? I couldn't even imagine what that would be like." Although if he listened to the rumors he actually was a student at the school only months and a few memories ago.
"So, the student floor. I know where that is." Amanda indicated with an incline of her head the direction they should take and waited for "John" to fall into step beside her. "And yeah, I was, about a hundred years ago, or so it seems sometimes. It was a hell of a ride, that's for sure. There were more students than there are now and it always seemed like someone was in some kind trouble or other. Evil relatives, demon invasions, kidnappings, military incursions, wiped memories..." Her tone was casual, but the last comment was deliberate - an opening for the young man to take if he wanted.
"Yeah, I've heard about a few of the wiped memories from a few people. They seem to range from people taking on new identities to people running around thinking they're in love with random people." He laughed. "And I thought the random drug addicts were bad at the shelter." He continued to walk in line with her as his memories wandered to the stories of others with broken memories at the mansion he had heard from Dr. Grey-Summers and a few of the others.
"That bloody love potion. I'll never live that one down." Amanda shook her head and snorted. "The follies of youth and all that. But yeah, we've seen the whole range here. Some more up close than others - my boyfriend at the time had his memories wiped. Took months for it to come back." She glanced up at him. "But it did, in the end."
"Well even if mine, or Nick's don't, I can always look forward to these hallway meetings right?" He cracked a smile. His life had been a roller coaster over the past month and a half. If he was going to keep his sanity at all, he needed to inject levity into situations like these. That was all he could do to stave off screaming in frustration at times. "But how did you deal with it? Knowing someone so close, and them not having a clue who you were?"
Amanda was quiet for a while, thinking over those times. "It was hard," she replied quietly. "Seeing his face and not having him remember me. But I realised after a while, it was harder for him, having everyone react to someone he wasn't. So, we started fresh, blank slate and all that. Getting to know the person he was, not try and force him to be the person he'd been."
"Speaking from my own personal experience, I can tell you that that plan seems nice." He smirked as he continued down the hall. "But I still can't help but feel like I'm a guy walking through the halls with a Nick mask on, ya know?"
"To be honest, it's probably because no-one has any clue who John is. They see you, they see Nick, like you said. But there's a way of talking to them that gets around that whole issue - the journals. Chime in a bit more, say your piece, let people know who you are. They'll react to you, not to who they think you should be."
"I can try that." John smirked as he turned towards his hallway companion. "But when I start getting comments that people are tired of reading my late night rants about Rock of Love on the journals, I'm totally ratting you out to them all." He let a faint laugh out through his pursed lips.
She laughed out loud at that. "This place has survived Garrison's tendency to play Air Supply when he's drunk and lovelorn," she replied. "I think they'll cope."
